With the developers of the Persona series placing such a strong emphasis on social bonding within their games, one related question about Sega’s latest release that springs to mind is this – does Persona 5 Tactica have romance? Launched on November 17, 2023, Persona 5 Tactica is the newest spin-off from the Persona series. It sees the Phantom Thieves lead an emotional revolution fighting oppressive armies in turn-based combat that takes place in Persona’s iconic game universe.
In this article, we’ll be answering the question of whether any romantic elements are present within the game’s storyline. Historically speaking, the Persona series has always incorporated the topic of romance, allowing you to have your in-game character date a variety of teammates. But as with any new game, it’s important to know if certain actions can be replicated.
Should you wish to read more on this game, we suggest you have a look through our detailed Persona 5 Tactica guide covering tips and tricks for beginners, as well as our guide on how to get to the game's popular marriage scene.
click to enlargeDoes Persona 5 Tactica have romance?
Unfortunately, there is no romance in Persona 5 Tactica as the game doesn’t provide any option for you to court any of your fellow party members. More so, there aren’t any of the traditional social link points that you may be accustomed to viewing in other Persona games. However, the game does feature a brief discussion about marriage which takes place during a particular Talk event in the first chapter.
The event – called “The Ideal Marriage” – introduces a scenario where Joker marries one of the main party members. Ryuji asks Joker if he could envision himself marrying any of his teammates. From there, a dropdown list of characters appears, allowing you as a player to select your character of choice for a supposed marriage.
These characters are as follows:
- Haru
- Futaba
- Makoto
- Yusuke
- Ann
- Ryuji
Once a particular person is picked, a follow-up scene will showcase Joker imagining himself in an ideal marriage with the chosen character. This is the closest that Persona 5 Tactica gets to having proper romance.
Has the Persona series had romance before?
Series 3, 4 and 5 of Persona have had traditional dating mechanics included. In these games, you can take part in social bond events that establish hetero relationships. This is done by spending time with characters and giving them the best answers during dialogue encounters, which allows you to level up to a specific character’s social link rank.
For example, in Persona 4 Golden, there’s a total of eight characters who can be romanced. You can also get into more than one relationship in this particular title, although that may have repercussions when it comes to in-game events like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.
So, there you have it. The Persona series contains various elements of romance, but the latest spin-off doesn’t include any courtship or enchantment options. For more info on the game, take a look at how long it will take you to beat Persona 5 Tactica, as well as whether the game is canon.