The Best Thing About Persona 5 Tactica Is Its DLC

I’m considering revisiting Persona 5 before next month’s launch for Persona 5: The Phantom X. God knows where I’d find the time, and Atlus produced a wide range of spin-offs these last nine years. Dancing in Starlight delivered a seemingly mandatory rhythm game, while Strikers is an entertaining sequel spin-off that can become a grindfest, leaving Tactica as a personal favourite among the crowd.

A strategy RPG more in line with Fire Emblem or XCOM, Persona 5 Tactica stood apart with its charming but more cartoonish graphics that visually align more with the Persona Q spin-offs than the main game. A compelling narrative kept me anchored with two great new characters, though Tactica is certainly flawed. Gameplay feels basic compared to other strategy RPGs, while taking place between Royal and Strikers limits any real character development for our returning Phantom Thieves.

These aren’t new sentiments, and I previously reviewed Persona 5 Tactica at launch. A five-point scoring system means my score doesn’t match the slightly higher number I'd give it under a ten-point system, in case you’re wondering why that seems low, but there’s another key omission. I also didn’t have pre-release access for the Repaint Your Heart DLC, which is arguably the best thing about that game.

Repaint Your Heart is a prequel that occurs midway through Royal's November heist, and it’s best experienced after completing the main campaign because it assumes your familiarity with the core gameplay. Absent from the main story, Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa are back, and this time, we’re investigating a mysterious graffiti paintings across Tokyo. The familiar faces are a welcome sight, yet the DLC's biggest strength comes from its new mechanics.

Repaint Your Heart succeeds by introducing a new strategic element focused on paint, which drew some unsurprising comparisons with Splatoon. Each ally and enemy have their own paint colour, and it gets spread by attacking targets or attacking paint drums across each level. What’s particularly good here is how standing in the enemy’s colour makes you vulnerable to being Downed even when in cover, whereas standing in your own colour makes you resistant to being knocked over.

Beyond giving Repaint Your Heart its own identity and distinct art style, this new mechanic introduces a more effective challenge that provides welcome strategic depth. Though I wouldn't call it a series highlight, the story delivers an interesting contrast with the spirit of rebellion that underlies Persona 5's very core. The Phantom Thieves ended up on a more righteous path, but had that been manipulated? They could've ended up like our tragic villain, Guernica.

This might sound like a small thing when written down, but Tactica’s base game mechanics feel limited even when compensating with good enemy variety and creative level design. Between a restricted equipment system, only three controllable party members and some basic abilities, more in-depth mechanics are absent. Persona abilities do help, but mechanics like an accuracy system would go a long way. Either you hit or the enemy’s taken cover, that's it. It’s fun forcing enemies out of hiding by tackling them, and the ‘One More’ turn system is great for maximising turn economy by Downing enemies. It’s not enough.

Tactica seems to target strategy RPG newcomers, so I understand Atlus playing it safe, yet it could've offered so much more. Repaint Your Heart’s core gameplay is ultimately more entertaining just by adding this one-time mechanic, adding a little something extra to build upon these slightly shallow foundations. It’s over quickly, and it really should not have been paid DLC on day one, but that doesn't stop it from becoming a worthy addition to the main game.