Ever since Persona 3, the Persona series has had a strong focus on social bond events. The dating sim aspect of the games serves as a fun diversion from all the phantom thievery of the combat while fleshing out the characters further and giving players agency in who they hang out with. However, the wide variety of spin-off games in the series strays from the dating aspect a bit. Being the first tactics game in the Persona series raises many questions. We’re here to answer one of the more lingering curiosities without spoiling too much. Is there romance in Persona 5 Tactica?
Romance in Persona 5 Tactica Explained
The answer is, no, there is no romance in Persona 5 Tactica and you won’t be able to court your fellow party members. There are no traditional social link bond events in Persona 5 Tactica. In fact, there are no stats or points relegated to relationships at all in the new spin-off game. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t conversations delving into the topic of love and its many forms.
Party Talk
The structure of Persona 5 Tactica is comprised of main missions, quests, prep, and party talk. Party Talk is the closest the game ever gets to social links and bond events in the other games. Once you unlock the Hideout after the first hour of the intro, the “Talk” feature becomes available. There’s a new Talk event after every main mission in the game. Talk allows the characters in the party to converse and chat about what they’re going through in the story, typically consisting of more personal reflections and heart-to-hearts.
Thankfully, none of these events are time-sensitive and will always be there in the menu for you to access. There’s usually not much player choice involved in these dialogues, but there are occasional moments reminiscent of the social link bond events of past games.
The Ideal Marriage
One particular Talk event that has strong bond event vibes is in the game’s first chapter. The Talk event titled “The Ideal Marriage” creates a scenario where Joker gets married to one of the main party members. Ryuji actually ignites the conversation by asking Joker if he could envision himself marrying any of his teammates. This prompts a list of the characters for the player to select from.
You can pick any of the characters below and a scene will play out with Joker imagining an ideal marriage between them:
- Ryuji
- Ann
- Yusuke
- Makoto
- Futaba
- Haru
- None
As mentioned previously, there are no social link points between characters in Persona 5 Tactica, so choosing any character won’t affect the game in any real way. Thankfully, you can replay “The Ideal Marriage” Talk any time you want from the Talk menu and watch all of them play out without any consequences later on.
That about sums up the romance in Persona 5 Tactica. There are obviously a lot of story points throughout the game that cover various topics like marriage, friendships, betrayal, teamwork, etc., but there are no traditional dating mechanics like there were in Persona 3/4/5. The Talk feature is the closest the game gets to giving the player some fun romantic conversations. For more guides and features regarding Persona 5 Tactica, check out our coverage here on Twinfinite.
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