Persona 5 Tactica promises us a reunion of the Phantom Thieves. But with the addition of Strikers, we don’t quite have an exact timeframe for when this game takes place. However, it is possible to sleuth out when Persona 5 Tactica takes place by looking at past events.
In this guide, I’ll show you when Persona 5 Tactica fits into the timeline between Royal and Strikers. Beware of spoilers for Persona 5 Royal.
When Does Persona 5 Tactica Take Place?
Persona 5 Tactica takes place between the second and third semesters of Royal. This means that while Tactica’s plot is happening, the main plot for the Phantom Thieves is still ongoing. However due to a crucial detail regarding Kasumi Yoshizawa and Goro Akechi, we can say that Tactica takes place around November.
In a gameplay trailer for Akechi and Kasumi, it’s shown that Akechi still uses Robin as his Persona. Likewise, the game also calls Kasumi Yoshizawa as Kasumi. This gives us a pretty good idea of when the game will take place.
It’s worth noting that Goro Akechi and Kasumi Yoshizawa stand out in the timeframe. With the two Phantom Thief members acting out their fake personas, Akechi is still wearing his detective prince facade, and Kasumi is still being Kasumi. If this game really does take place after the third semester of Royal, that kind of makes things confusing.
However, since Persona 5 Tactica takes place during the events of Royal, it makes perfect sense for Akechi and Kasumi to still be who they are. Akechi has yet to reveal his more crazy side, and Kasumi still doesn’t see herself as Sumire. Kasumi only discovers the truth on January 2nd, and Goro Akechi only reveals his crazy half on November 25th. Because of this, the earliest timeline we can put Tactica on would be sometime around November. Probably before Akechi betrays the Phantom Thieves.
We aren’t sure if Persona 5 Tactica can be considered canon to the mainline events. Especially considering that it’s squeezed into the timeframe. With Persona 5 Strikers, we can at least say it follows after Persona 5, so there’s no trouble writing it off as canon. There’s no mention of the new party member, Erina, or this other world they’ve been dragged into.
That explains when Persona 5 Tactica is going to fit into the timeline. In the meantime, feel free to check out our other Persona 5 Tactica articles here.