Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight knows its audience within its audience. It's one of the more engaging rhythm games I’ve played to date, even if I wish it was open from the start and had more to do. Like the Phantom Thieves, I have to follow my heart; and it sides with the music.

Those who simply love music rhythm games and haven’t got much experience with the Persona series, though, should probably just dip their toes in with Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight to test the water. And maybe wait for it to go on sale before they do so. Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are both very good, but they don’t quite feel like they’re worth their asking price.

At their core, both are solid, fun rhythm action games with kickass soundtracks that you can have a great time with, regardless of character knowledge, and despite the games being exact copies of each other. If you like the genre and have that itch, then get on your dancing shoes and enter the Velvet Room. The stage awaits.

Person 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Person 5: Dancing in Starlight are both great rhythm and musical games. Albeit the two lack some aspects from Persona 4. Dancing All Night like an Story mode or even a wider variety of tracks, both titles offer enough of content to please fans of the series and, especially those who love the work of the composer Shoji Meguro.

Based on the lore of Persona, the gameplay is intuitive and its difficulty will meet all kinds of players' skill.

For Persona 5, the love and polish is there in equal amounts, but the somber jazzy style of the original game just doesn’t translate as successfully to a loud and groovy rhythm game experience.

The masterful fusion of jazz, pop, metal, and rock make for a great playlist that feels like a trip through the struggles and triumphs of Persona 5 all over again.

While I still don’t know that the world needs dancing games based off of the Persona series, it’s obvious that Atlus could do way worse than Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. Both games show clear effort in terms of visuals and animations, and if there’s any RPG franchise with soundtracks you’d want to groove to, it’s Persona.

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is a rock solid and super stylish rhythm game. Its jazzy remixes are top notch and its presentation is excellent, resulting in a good-time-title that keeps you coming back for more. Approachable controls and concepts make it easy to learn, but a steep difficulty curve -- perhaps too steep, in some cases -- makes it very hard to master. Put in the practice, though, and you'll be rewarded with an immensely satisfying experience.

Despite the gameplay not being the best, the game is charming enough with its music and music videos to still be a fun time.

Its main gameplay mechanic - the actual rhythm gameplay - does get in its own way. But if you’re just wanting to experience more stories and groove to the amazing soundtrack, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is definitely a good place to do so.