Persona 5: The Phantom X

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a free-to-play traditional RPG Persona 5 spin-off boasting a surprising amount of depth in terms of gameplay, storyline, and characters. Besides some wonky PC controls, the “gacha wall” you inevitably run up against if you’re trying to play it for completely free is the only thing truly holding the game back. Nonetheless, in a lot of respects, it’s a strong Persona title and one of the better free-to-play RPGs I’ve tried out. I enjoyed my time with the game, and can see myself playing it for a while into the future too. For me, that speaks volumes as to how decent a game Persona 5: The Phantom X can be.

Persona 5: The Phantom X does a great job of giving you main story content of a quality that is as good, if not better than Persona 5, and uses that good will to tempt you over to the more gacha-ified aspects of the experience. To do this, it makes a few compromises to the Persona formula that I don’t like, mostly in how it deemphasizes the life-sim elements, but I still think it is a very enjoyable experience that will keep you well-fed if you’re gagging for more Persona content and are impatiently waiting for Atlus to get on with making Persona 6 already.

If you're looking for something new, you're certainly not going to find it in The Phantom X. But if you're cool with gacha games and are down to see a different set of Phantom Thieves, this game'll carry you through at least a few months of fun. Budget-friendliness depends on you, of course.

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a fascinating compromise: on the one hand, it aims to bring the extraordinary artistic direction of the Atlus series, its strategic combat system, and its unique vision to a potentially vast audience; on the other hand, it introduces slightly more aggressive gacha mechanics compared to its direct competitors, which might raise some eyebrows among players familiar with these dynamics and unable to overlook them. Beyond banners and pulls, however, the developers at Perfect World have crafted a remarkable spin-off, and it will be interesting to see how it will be supported over time.

Persona 5: The Phantom X delivers a visually slick and narratively familiar mobile RPG experience that expands the Persona universe with charm and competent combat, though technical issues and uneven monetization may dampen long-term enjoyment.

I don’t begrudge a game the ability to make money. I want to see games succeed. Constantly being hit up to spend more and more just isn’t a good experience, though, at least for me. It feels predatory at times and makes me simply want to stop playing it. The game underneath all of those transactions is well-made, if very derivative of Persona 5, without hitting the highs of that title. Still, if they released a version paced like a regular RPG, I expect I’d want to see it all the way through. As is though, Persona 5: The Phantom X isn’t for me. Those who know what they’re getting into with gacha titles, I suspect, will have a good time, particularly if they love Persona, but it won’t change the mind of anyone who isn’t won over by the genre.

As mentioned before, your acceptance of Persona 5: The Phantom X will depend on how you feel about gacha games. If you dislike the concept, then there's nothing that will change your mind, especially since the pop-ups are pretty frequent for microtransactions. For those who are already used to the gacha game style, what you'll find is a fleshed-out JRPG that is still considered novel at a time when games like Genshin Impact and Zenless Zone Zero are still a rarity. It isn't as fleshed-out in some areas as the main game, but there's enough to satisfy the die-hard fans who are still craving Persona 5 content, even after finishing the other spin-offs.

Persona 5: The Phantom X is a difficult game to recommend. As a gacha game, it’s elevated by lifting so much from Persona 5. But the inverse is true, as the gacha elements have weakened a lot of what made the original game great. If you loved the style of Persona 5 and want something free and casual that lets you kick around in its world some more, there’s fun to be found in Persona 5: The Phantom X. But those who min-max the Fusion system or hate gachas are unlikely to be convinced.

Persona5: The Phantom X is a stylish, thoughtfully written reimagining of Persona 5 that struggles to feel sincere under the weight of its gacha systems. When you are still early on, it’s thoroughly enjoyable to bounce around the vibrant reimagining of Tokyo and help out the small pool of lovable NPCs. Eventually, though, the patience-testing roadblocks and onslaught of low-stakes activities amount to little more than a beautiful but taxing slog. With a ton of excellent Persona games to play elsewhere that don’t artificially hold you at arm’s length, it’s fair to say that my relationship with Lufel and the gang will remain in the acquaintances category, rather than best buds.