Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers interview reveals new gameplay mechanics, dev struggles, and more

This week's issue of Famitsu includes an interview with a number of people working on Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers. Check out a full summary of the interview below, which includes comments from Atlus producer Daisuke Kaneda and Koei Tecmo (Omega Force) producer Kenichi Ogasawara.

- the proposal for the game came from Koei Tecmo
- the game’s engine is made by Koei Tecmo, and works differently than the one from Persona 5
- Atlus proposed that the development team actually travel around the country in RVs
- there were more difficulties than imagined with that, but new discoveries were also made
- the original story draft comes from Koei Tecmo, but its supervision and creation were compiled by the Persona Team
- both companies were very particular about the scenario
- when they were finished, the original plan looked completely different
- some special characters may appear in various parts of Japan
- the team thought the “command selection” aspect, where time freezes to select a persona skill, would ruin the pacing
- when it was finished, the command selection aspect felt really comfortable, and a new Phantom Thief-like action was created
- you can observe the weaknesses and resistances of the enemy, taking into account your equipment and personas
- there is no point to elements that can be cleared without engaging with any of the game’s systems
- the developers want players to make use of this combination
- there is also the ability to change the level of difficulty
- Atsushi Kitajoh was in charge of the background music
- he handled the music for Persona Q and other games
- Gota Masuoka is also involved with the music, and has worked on the Warriors games
- MASA, a Koei Tecmo composer provided work as well, and new songs and arrangements have been created