FAKE FRIENDS

This spin-off has all the style and confidence of Persona 5, plastered with bold colors and glittery character animations that give each scene the liveliness of a manga panel, down to the menus. A smooth, jazzy soundtrack establishes a psychedelic ’70s spy movie energy, even though we’re dealing with teens taking on criminals throughout Japan. There’s even a 30-hour story with most of the original cast returning. It walks and talks almost exactly like Persona 5, a game that isn’t even on PC yet.

But isn’t , and the comparison isn’t flattering for it. Its social elements and combat aren’t as fully-featured or its characters as deeply considered as ’s, so any expectation of parity will lead to disappointment. is a wild but bloated visual novel with almost no room for expression or choice, and with some of the best turn-based combat in existence swapped out for repetitive action game combat. will give fans some painful whiplash.