Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight tested

You take the bombastic and award-winning soundtrack of Persona 5, expand the acoustic repertoire with some new songs and remixes, add the lovely characters of the JRPGs and a great presentation and you get Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight. Admittedly, the game is primarily aimed at mega fans of the Atlus role-playing game released last year. In addition, as a rhythm game it can also be classified as an exotic in today’s video game landscape. But if you’ve been hunting for hearts with the Phantom Thieves or aren’t averse to the genre, be prepared for a load of good humour. So headphones on, volume on “My ENT has forbidden me to do this” and the party can start.

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is a spin-off of one of the best JRPGs of this console generation. Before we talk about P5: DiS, I must take this opportunity to state once and for all that Shoji Meguro has composed one of the best video game soundtracks of all time. The jazzy titles give the games an unmistakable touch. The extensive interactions with the lovable team members are also part of every persona game. This is of great importance as Dancing in Starlight relies exactly on these two pillars and implements them brilliantly.

Dancing like a Phantom Thieve

But we leave dancing to the Phantom Thieves, because it’s enough to give the boys and girls instructions via direction and action keys. So it is necessary to give genre-typically point-exact input in a given order to collect points. This can be necessary in single notes as well as in combinations, double notes or “scratches”. The latter are optional and are triggered by the analog stick. Combination points can be collected depending on how precisely the notes are played. If this is made especially error-free, the “Fever-Time” is triggered where a dancing partner is added next to the main dancer to swing the dancing leg together for a while. This alone motivated me enough to try to play as flawlessly as possible. Admittedly, to see Joker dancing with Makoto has what – Best Waifu, you understand. As expected from Atlus, the dance style of each character was adapted to the personality and background story. Haru swings gracefully through the dance arenas with ballet-like steps, Riuji gives expression to his personality with powerful dance moves and Futuaba is as lovably shy as ever and somewhat alternative with her dance steps.

The soundtrack is expected to be the highlight of the game. Most of the songs were taken from Persona 5 and partly a completely new remix was added. These fit in fantastically and extend the already grandiose repertoire by further facets. Mitos Remix by Rivers in the Desert or the “Jazztronik Remix by Wake up, Get up, Get Out there are among my absolute favorites. The already outstanding soundtrack of Persona 5 was successfully extended with the help of some great artists. Although my expectations in this area were already high, I was still positively surprised.

Team meeting

In contrast to the direct predecessor Persona 4 Dancing all Night, there is no full story mode. A framework story roughly explains the reason why the Phantom Thieves should dance all at once and how the event fits into Persona’s story. A real story isn’t told, though. The so-called social links also find their place again, typical of the series. So you can chat relaxed with the other Phantom Thieves, while you recover from the admittedly sometimes mentally exhausting dance interludes. Those who have already saved the world in Persona 5 will already know Morgana, Riuji, Ann and Co. very well. The interactive conversations are all written credibly and illuminate the multi-layered characters in detail. Every time a new social event was unlocked, I was really looking forward to learn more about the team. It felt like I was learning more about good friends from the past. In the many conversations, reference is also made from time to time to the events of Persona 5. As a newcomer to the series, you will soon feel overwhelmed. Also here becomes clear fast, Dancing in Starlight addresses itself to series veterans.

Since I am completely free of talent when it comes to music and rhythm, I was a little worried at first about being overwhelmed with the game. It quickly turned out that these thoughts were completely unfounded. Severately different levels of difficulty, as well as further assistance can be activated, to adapt the level to challenge to individual needs and desires. The tutorial also prepares you for your first steps. On “Easy” any title should be possible with some practice. In the course of time a learning effect had set up itself with me, so that I even complete some songs on Hard with good results. In addition, the game can be performed on entertaining white concentration exercises, as it requires a high degree of focus and responsiveness, especially in the later course of the game. Unfortunately, this also led to the fact that I ignored the dancers completely at some point in order to hit the notes correctly. Fortunately, dance interludes can be enjoyed again in repetition. If you are looking for further challenges, you can do this with special settings. An example would be to play the notes faster or mirrored.

Gimme more

The successful completion of songs or social events will unlock new costumes and accessories. These can be freely combined with each other and contain some fan favorites. Among other things also from Persona 3 and 4, as well as completely new outfits. New dance partners can be unlocked by skillfully completing the dance arenas. The rest of the presentation is also very convincing. Some dances are accompanied in the background by excerpts from the animes of Persona 5. But Atlus has come up with one or two surprises! You never see it coming!

FAZIT

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight plays out its strengths skillfully. The award-winning soundtrack has been extended with new titles and rounded off with remixes by well-known artists. The social aspect was also given a lot of attention again, typical of the series. The lack of a real story mode, however, disappointed me at the end. This had already made Persona 4 Dancing All Night or other Persona spin-offs like Persona 4 Arena Ultimax better. Also, I find the fact that Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight separately seems a bit questionable. A joint release would have been desirable considering the full price of both titles. But fans of the universe won’t be disappointed at all and will celebrate many nice hours with the Phantom Thieves.

What is Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight? A rythm game where you can dance with the heroes of Persona 5
Platforms: PS4, PS Vita
Tested: PS4 Version
Developer / Publisher: Atlus / Sega
Release: December 04, 2018