Surprise! Persona 5 S is Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, a Dynasty Warriors spinoff

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This spinoff is coming to Switch, but the original game isn't - at least not anytime soon

Persona 5 R was recently revealed to be an expanded re-release called Persona 5 Royal, and Atlus followed it up by unveiling the long-rumored Persona 5 S during a Japanese event earlier today. Rather than the Persona 5 Switch port that many purported leaks suggested, we're getting Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, a Dynasty Warriors-style spinoff from Koei Tecmo. Yes, exactly like Hyrule Warriors, only The Phantom Strikers will come to both PS4 and Nintendo Switch.  

The announcement trailer is exactly what you'd expect. Screens flooded with fodder enemies? An attack radius that would embarrass Kratos' chain blades? Iconic characters wailing on hordes in environments based on the source game? Yep, that's a Dynasty Warriors game all right. 

It is a bit odd to see Joker, a normally stealthy and discrete Phantom Thief, just going ham in the middle of Japan, but I have to admit it's cool to watch Personas duke it out in an action-RPG using abilities we all know and love. As you'd expect, the trailer shows Joker fighting alongside Arsene, his initial Persona. I wonder if The Phantom Strikers will also let Joker unlock new Personas and switch between them on the fly? Will the other Phantom Thieves and their Personas be playable as well?  

Oh, and let's not forget the biggest question of all: who's that red-headed robot-looking girl at the end of the trailer? We just got a mysterious red-headed character via Persona 5 Royal. Now we're looking at another one who's giving off some serious Aigis vibes? You know what, sure. I mean this is Persona Dynasty Warriors, so I'd say anything goes at this point. 

Between a Dynasty Warriors gig and work as a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter, Persona 5's Joker has been busy lately. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.