Persona 5

Persona 5 is a role-playing video game where the player takes on the role of a male high school student, codenamed Joker, who lives out a single year while attending school in modern-day Tokyo. The game is governed by a day-night cycle and weather systems that determine general behavior, similar to a social simulation game. The year is punctuated by scripted and random events as Joker attends school, and outside of school he can have part-time jobs, pursue leisure activities, or create items for use in dungeons or in battle. When in the real world, Joker can develop character relationships known as "Confidants"; an evolution of the "Social Link" system from Persona 3 and Persona 4. With this system, he can converse with and improve his relationship with other characters he meets, with some leading to possible romances. Improving Confidant ranks with party members unlocks various abilities for use in combat. Throughout Palaces are locations known as "Safe Rooms", where the player can save their game and fast travel to other safe rooms within the Palace. New Personas can be gained from battle through successful negotiation, and different Persona types are represented through different arcana linked to Confidant links. Personas can be combined, or "fused" within the Velvet Room, a realm Joker visits throughout the story. Personas can be sacrificed by "Hanging" to grant experience points to another Persona or by being sent to the "Electric Chair" to create a high-end item. A Persona can also be sent into "Solitary Confinement" for multiple days to undergo intensive training and gain additional skills quicker than normal. ==Synopsis==

Setting and characters Persona 5 takes place within the Persona universe, revolving around a group of high school students who harness Personas, physical manifestations of their inner psyche. shows a person resembling Akechi passing by the window on Joker's train ride home. Similarly to the original game, an alternate ending happens should Joker choose to accept the idealized reality, instead of resisting and attempting to change Maruki's heart. The ending shows the other Phantom Thieves, including Akechi and Sumire, who is now "Kasumi" permanently, who are seemingly unaware of the true nature of reality, while Joker appears uncomfortable and unsure of his actions. ==Development==

The game was developed by P-Studio, an internal development studio within Atlus dedicated to handling the Persona series. Preparatory development began in 2008 following the release of Persona 4, with full development beginning following the release of Catherine in 2011. Following that crisis and seeing how people were bonding in the face of it, Hashino decided to have the story take place solely in Japan, with the journeying being done through the ever-shifting (dungeon-like) Palaces. The game's villains and protagonists were also constructed to be parallels of each other, both groups being misfits trying to shape a world they saw as unsatisfactory or corrupted. This was intended to create moral ambiguity about the Phantom Thieves' actions, causing the player to question their concept of justice and their mission as a whole. As the team considered previous Persona games to be "fun" but not well marketed, the UI was designed in such a way as to attract a larger, more mainstream audience. In December 2025, the game's score was performed in Japan at the "Persona 5 Special Big Band Concert," and will continue to be performed at the "Persona 5 Special Big Band Concert Asia Tour 2026". ==Release==

Persona 5 was first announced with a teaser trailer in November 2013, alongside spin-off games Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and the PlayStation 3 port of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. The headphones were packaged in a box with art designed by Soejima, with a music CD featuring two remixed tracks by Meguro and Kozuka. Following its release, character costumes and additional Personas were released as paid DLC. The costumes include those incorporated into the 20th Anniversary Edition based on Persona 3 and Persona 4, in addition to new costumes based on Revelations: Persona, the Persona 2 duology (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment), Shin Megami Tensei If..., Catherine, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, Persona 4 Arena, and Dancing All Night. Pre-order bonuses and its initial North American release date of February 14, 2017, was announced a week before E3 2016. The guidelines were widely perceived as threatening, and were criticized by many in the games press and streaming community. About three weeks later, Atlus apologized for the tone of its original guidelines and revised its policy, extending the amount that could be streamed considerably. Persona 5 Royal Persona 5 Royal, released in Japan as Persona 5: The Royal, is an enhanced version of the game in a similar vein to Persona 4 Golden. This version features an additional Phantom Thief member named Kasumi Yoshizawa, a new Palace, a new area of the city (Kichijōji), new music, additional plot and social elements, a playable third semester, and support for the PlayStation 4 Pro, alongside many other changes and additions. In a first for the series, Royal features subtitles in French, German, Italian, and Spanish. It features a new opening sequence directed by Yuichiro Hayashi and produced by MAPPA, and as with the original game, Domerica co-produced the new anime cutscenes. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019, and worldwide on March 31, 2020. The game was also released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 21, 2022. These versions were ported by Atlus owner Sega. Sega published Royal in Europe and Australia, taking over from Deep Silver who published the original in those regions. Upon release, Royal received numerous character costume sets and Personas as paid DLC. Costumes include those based on Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. Additionally, Kasumi received her own costume bundle. Personas added include those from Persona 3 and 4. DLC adding additional battles against the protagonist of Persona 3 and protagonist of Persona 4 was released. The paid DLC created for Royal was included for free in the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions. The game supports Xbox Play Anywhere on Microsoft platforms, but the PlayStation 5 version does not offer an upgrade path or save data transfer from the PlayStation 4 version. ==Reception==

Persona 5 received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Another was its treatment of LGBTQ topics. Writing for Paste, Kenneth Shepard considered the game to be heteronormative and noted a "lecherous" gay couple who are treated as a joke. These scenes' dialogue were altered in the Western version of Persona 5 Royal, with its localization team advocating for the change. Shepard and Polygon writer Laura Dale both opined that Royals localization changes were at least a minor improvement, but the game was still broadly uninclusive to LGBTQ identities. There is mixed reception regarding the game's playtime, which writers from The Verge and Wired note may be too long for some players. Royal Persona 5 Royal received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic, IGN listed it as one of the best contemporary role-playing games. Famitsu praised Royal newer elements. On the PlayStation Network in April, the game topped the PS4 charts, and was third on the PS3, with Atlus announcing that it had shipped 1.5 million units worldwide. The success of Persona 5 contributed to increasing annual revenue for Sega, the owner of Atlus, in 2017. At the 2018 PlayStation Awards, it received the Platinum Prize for topping a million sales in Asia. Persona 5 had sold over 3.2 million units by December 2019. Persona 5 Royal shipped over 400,000 units in Japan by December 2019. This brought total sales of Persona 5 and Royal to over units worldwide by December 2019. In the United Kingdom, Royal debuted at number five on the sales chart. Royal had sold over 1.4 million units by July 2020, bringing the total sales of Persona 5 and Royal to over . Persona 5 and Royal had sold over units by June 2021 (when including Royal units). When the game launched on additional platforms in October 2022, the Nintendo Switch version placed in second at 45,998 physical units sold, and PlayStation 5 version placed in seventh at 5,051 units during the week from October 17 to 23, according to Japanese publication Famitsu. In the United Kingdom, the re-release of Royal debuted at number six on the sales chart, with 79% of the launch week sales coming from the Nintendo Switch version. By November 30, 2022, the PlayStation 4 version of Royal had sold 2.3 million units. By April 2023, the ports to other platforms had sold a combined 1.7 million units, bringing total sales of Royal to 4 million units, and combined sales of all versions of Persona 5 to 7.2 million units. Royal had sold a total of 7.25 million copies by March 2025, bringing combined sales of all versions of Persona 5 to 10.45 million. It won the Award for Excellence at the Japan Game Awards 2017. It was named the second best game of 2017 by GameSpot, behind The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In IGNs 2017 end of year awards, it won "Best RPG", and was also nominated for "Game of the Year", "Best PlayStation 4 Game", "Best Art Direction", "Best Story", and "Best Original Music". The game was also nominated for "Best International Game" at the 2017 Ping Awards, and for the "Best Music" and "Best Style" awards by Giant Bomb. In 2024, a cover of "Last Surprise" by The 8-Bit Big Band was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Arrangement, Instruments And Vocals". It was ranked as one of the best games of 2017 by Eurogamer, Polygon, The Verge, GamesRadar+, and Electronic Gaming Monthly end of year lists. Destructoid nominated it for "Best PS4 Game" in its 2017 Game of the Year Awards. Staff of Game Informer named it 2017's "Best Role-Playing Game", as well as "Best Narrative" and "Best Cast". In their reader's choice awards, it was voted "Best Role-Playing Game" and came in second for "Best Sony Game" and third for "Game of the Year". During the 21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Persona 5 for "Role-Playing Game of the Year". The game won the Tin Pan Alley Award for "Best Music in a Game" at the New York Game Awards 2018. It was also nominated for the "Best Visual Art" award at the Game Developers Choice Awards, and for "Excellence in Musical Score" and "Excellence in Art" at the 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. The game was nominated for "Best Game Music Cover/Remix" at the 2019 G.A.N.G. Awards. Persona 5 Royal won the award for "Best Music" at the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2019, where it was also nominated for "Best RPG". It was nominated for "Best Role Playing Game" at The Game Awards 2020, as well as "Role-Playing Game of the Year" at the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, but lost both awards to Final Fantasy VII Remake. ==Legacy==

Critical retrospectives and accolades Since its release, Persona 5 has been regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, and one of the greatest games of all time. Journalists noted its influence on games such as Atlus' own Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) and Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025). Sandfall's lead director Guillaume Broche and Japanese game designer Masahiro Sakurai both praised the game's stylish UI design as among their favorite. Persona 5 and Royal have appeared in various critic lists of the best games of all time. IGN included Persona 5 at #78 in its 2019 list of the top 100, and ranked Royal at #81 in their 2021 iteration. The publication also placed it at #50 in their list of the 100 best RPGs. USA Todays gaming section For The Win listed the game at #11, and GQ ranked the game at #64 in a similar list in 2023. A 2017 Famitsu reader poll ranked Persona 5 as the greatest game of all time. Adaptations and media appearances A standalone anime special, Persona 5: the Animation -The Day Breakers-, aired in Japan on September 3, 2016. Stage play adaptations under the title Persona 5: The Stage have been performed in Japan, with original music composed by Atsushi Kitajoh. Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, a rhythm game for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, features the main cast of Persona 5 and was released in 2018. The cast is also featured in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth for the Nintendo 3DS, also released in 2018. Persona 5 Strikers, an action role-playing sequel to Persona 5 co-developed with Omega Force and featuring gameplay based on their Dynasty Warriors series, was released in Japan in 2020 and worldwide in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows. A tactical role-playing game spinoff named Persona 5 Tactica was released in 2023. A spin-off for Android and iOS named Persona 5: The Phantom X was announced in 2023, developed by Black Wings Game Studio and published by Perfect World Games; P-Studio is assisting in the game's development. The Phantom Thieves appear as characters that can be summoned via gacha by the player character of Persona 5: The Phantom X. Joker appears as a playable character via downloadable content (DLC) in the 2018 crossover fighting game, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The game's director, Masahiro Sakurai, is a fan of the Persona series and stated that Joker was emblematic of the approach that he wanted to take with Ultimate DLC, adding that he wanted characters that were unique and fun to use within the Super Smash Bros. environment. Other characters and series elements have also made crossover appearances in various other games. ==Notes==