Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight and Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight are rhythm games based on the role-playing video games Persona 3 and Persona 5. Featuring the central cast of Persona 3 or Persona 5, gameplay follows a similar pattern to Persona 4: Dancing All Night; a chosen character performs a song in a story location from Persona 3 or Persona 5, with the player using a six-button system to hit notes in time to the present musical track. During a section of the song dubbed "Fever", a chosen partner joins in for the routine, with unique choreography for each partner reflecting the characters' existing relationships. Interactions between characters between songs take place in the Velvet Room, a recurring location in the Persona series. ==Synopsis==

Setting and characters In the Persona series, the Velvet Room is a mysterious place between the world of dreams and reality. Its attendant Elizabeth assists the protagonist of Persona 3, and its attendants Caroline and Justine assist the protagonist of Persona 5. Plot The two games take place after the events of Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Upon hearing about the success of Margaret's dancers, her sisters, Elizabeth, Caroline, and Justine, become jealous. The sisters challenge each other's guests, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, to a dance-off. Moonlight has Elizabeth time travel back to 2009, to allow her to have Makoto Yuki take part — since he is deceased by the time of Starlight. The event takes place within a dream in the Velvet Room, with everyone's memories of it being erased afterwards. The twins promise the Phantom Thieves a treasure if they dance for them. After the completion of the ball, Justine, Caroline, and Elizabeth decide that competing to see who had the best guest was pointless, and declare both sides to have won. They then reveal the prize was the experience, which the group accept as they had fun. In Moonlight, Elizabeth joins the dancers herself. In Starlight, the twins then add an additional reward of seeing the two of them dance as well. ==Development and release==

Following the positive response to Dancing All Night, P-Studio—an Atlus department responsible for managing the Persona series—were encouraged to make a rhythm game based on the setting and characters of Persona 3. Dancing in Moonlight was developed simultaneously with Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight due to Persona 5 being in development at the time. Using their experience from developing Dancing All Night, the team focused on improving the experience for their new projects. ==Reception==

Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. The games' graphics were well received. The customizable costumes were also praised, with Hardcore Gamers Jacob Bukacek commenting that "fans who enjoy this kind of thing should have a lot of fun seeing their favorite [characters] do their dance routines in these outlandish outfits." Criticism was directed towards Dancing in Moonlight for its rhythm gameplay. The layout of notes appearing from the middle of the screen was perceived as awkward, cluttered, and hard to follow. In his review on Game Informer, Suriel Vazquez recounted that he sometimes failed to notice notes due to how busy the screen is. The modifier system, through which players can make the gameplay easier or harder, was liked as an addition for its easily customizable nature. The social event mechanics were divisive among critics. Some said that it was not as in-depth and interesting as the story mode featured in Dancing All Night, such as Britanny Vincent of Shacknews, who felt there was "no substance to these brief interactions." Others enjoyed the less serious tone and emphasis on character interactions. Robert Ramsey from Push Square contested that the social events "fit the structure of the game a lot better than a long-winded story mode." Dancing in Moonlight was also criticized for its lack of content. Nathan Lee of RPG Fan described 25 songs as "a paltry amount, especially considering that same song might have both an original and a remixed version." Other criticism was directed at the absence of certain characters, such as party member Koromaru and the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable. Awards Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight was nominated for "Game, Music or Performance-Based" and "Song Collection" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards. ==Notes==