Persona 5: The Phantom X

To accommodate the format of a free-to-play game created primarily for mobile devices, Persona 5: The Phantom X adapts the Persona mechanics with various changes. Like the main titles, it combines elements of social simulation and dungeon crawling. However, in place of the Calendar system, both activities now require energy that replenishes over time or is restored using currency, similar to other mobile games. As the male silent protagonist (who is named by the player, though he is canonically named Nagisa Kamishiro, but also given the codename Wonder) attending the school in modern-day Tokyo, players experience the story events, answer questions in class, and freely explore the city after school or during days off in order to engage in various activities. Some help Wonder earn experience points or money, while others improve his social stats, such as Knowledge or Courage, which affect the gameplay in other ways. Additionally, players can consult the "City Schedule" feature to see the list of suggested activities and available rewards. Like Persona 5, the dungeon crawling portion takes place in the Metaverse, a realm created from subconscious desires that consists of Mementos and Palaces. Mementos is the procedurally generated location consisting of multiple floors that is primarily used for grinding and completing daily quests, while the Palaces are the story-related levels ruled by various bosses. The battle gameplay remains faithful to the Persona series, using the turn-based system with the "1 more" mechanic when striking enemies' weaknesses. However, unlike the main series, activating "1 more" is always followed by specific skills instead of giving the player complete control over their additional action, and not all enemies can be "downed" in one turn, as some were given a meter that dictates the necessary number of attacks. When all enemies are down, the player can perform a powerful "All-Out Attack". == Synopsis ==

During an escape from Sae's Casino in the Metaverse, Joker was attacked by a masked assailant. The assailant unmasks himself as Nagisa, who proceeds to shoot him. Nagisa then awakens from his bed, revealing it to be a dream. While sleeping in class at Kokatsu Academy, Nagisa is drawn into the Velvet Room, taking the form of a tunnel submerged in a sea, and it is occupied by Igor and his assistant, Merope. Igor cites Nagisa's knowledge of choice as his reason for bringing him to the Velvet Room. Nagisa wakes up in the classroom and begins to see weird experiences around him that lead him to lose desire, such as asking two students from blocking the stairs, or helping someone who has just jumped off from a building. On his way home from school, Nagisa notices a weird app installed on his phone and encounters a talking owl, Lufel. Nagisa accidentally taps the app and brings himself and Lufel to the Metaverse, a supernatural realm representing the unconscious desires of humanity. Lufel explains that humanity's hopes and desires are being stolen, including Nagisa's. While attempting to leave the Metaverse, the pair are attacked by Shadows, creatures formed from warped desires who attack humans on sight. Nagisa awakens his Persona, Jánošík, and is able to defeat the shadows with Lufel's help, allowing them to return to the real world. Realizing his potential, Lufel recruits Nagisa to help him reclaim the desire of the masses. Lufel points out to Nagisa a former baseball player, Takeyuki Kiuchi, who intentionally rams into women in the subway, and says that in order to stop him, they must enter Kiuchi's Palace within the Metaverse and steal his treasure, an object which is the source of warped desires. On his way to school the following day, Nagisa meets with his classmate Motoha Arai and her best friend, Tomoko Noge, who aspires to play baseball professionally after Motoha abruptly quit baseball. Tomoko saves Motoha from being rammed by Kiuchi, but she herself is thrown onto the tracks, causing a career-ending injury that prevents her from playing baseball. Nagisa and Lufel enter Kiuchi's palace and discover that Motoha has also accidentally entered the palace, who awakens to her Persona after being physically and verbally berated by a Shadow form of Kiuchi. While traversing through Kiuchi's palace, they discover that Motoha hitting a slider thrown by a Kiuchi, along with a scandal resulting from Kiuchi's purchasing of an escort, forced him off the baseball team and into an office job, leading to his misogynistic desires. Nagisa, Lufel, and Motoha are able to defeat Shadow Kiuchi and steal his treasure, resulting in Kiuchi turning himself in to the police. As Kiuchi was brought in, Nagisa began to experience weird visions of the future, showing what would have happened had they failed to stop Kiuchi's crimes. Resolving to reclaim the desires of the masses, the trio works together as the Phantom Thieves, meeting new allies and fighting against more nefarious palace rulers. As the Phantom Thieves reclaim desires and change the target's hearts, Nagisa's visions became more frequent and extreme, implying that not everything is what it seems. ==Development==

Perfect World Games first teased the project with a trailer in April 2021. Titled Code Name: X, it was claimed to be the first mobile entry in a “famous Japanese console game series” that has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The footage was noted to feature the aesthetic and music reminiscent of Persona 5, but the ties to the Persona series were not officially confirmed. The connection was later discovered through image filenames on the website and the binary code at the end of the trailer, which was translated to Persona 5X. The Persona staff provided input on the game's story and setting, and directly presented ideas regarding the characterization of the Phantom Thieves, which were then turned into original characters by Black Wings staff. The general producer of the Persona series Kazuhisa Wada worked as the supervisor of the project. The business producer Yohsuke Uda served as the game's producer from the Atlus side, and scenario planner Yusuke Nitta, who previously worked on Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Tactica, is credited as the development director and lead scenario planner. Music The opening theme, "Ambitions and Visions", was composed by Ryota Kozuka of Atlus Sound Team, with lyrics by Jasmine Webb. According to sound director Qing Yao, it helped to define the musical style of the game, "inheriting the punk and rock" of the original game and "expanding into a fast tempo J-pop direction." The rest of the music was created in-house by BlackWings Audio Station staff, with song lyrics by AkimR. After completing the basic composition and arrangement, the music was sent to supervisors at Atlus for checks and edits. When the result satisfied both parties, Atlus scheduled recordings with Persona 5 vocalist Lyn. Original music from Persona 5 and Persona 3 Reload by Shoji Meguro was included. The first volume of the soundtrack, containing 21 tracks, was released on April 12, 2024. ==Release==

The game was revealed for Android and iOS on March 16, 2023. Perfect World operates the game in China.--> While Perfect World did not announce the PC version at the time, the beta was available for Windows, in addition to Android. The final closed beta test, 'Heart Stealing Test', was held from January 16 to January 30, 2024. An open beta test began on April 12, 2024, in mainland China, and official launch on April 18, 2024, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea. As part of their Tokyo Game Show presentation in September 2024, Atlus announced that they will release Persona 5: The Phantom X in Japan, stating it will be available on Android, iOS, Steam and Google Play Games. A closed beta test was held from November 29 to December 5, 2024. The game was launched in Japan and other territories on June 26, 2025, with preload made available a day before the release. In Southeast Asia, the game was released on July 3, 2025. == Reception ==

The global version of this game received massive backlash on its launch. Several critics positively noted that elements of Persona 5: The Phantom X, including its battle mechanics, graphics, and story, closely resembled those of the original Persona 5. Sarah Thwaites of IGN wrote that Persona 5: The Phantom X felt "like an uncanny reflection of Persona 5". The game's writing was met with mixed reception. Thwaites and Vice writer Brent Koepp praised the main cast of characters. Connor Makar of Eurogamer noted that while Kiuchi was based on real cases of men ramming into others in Japan, Kiuchi stating "the whole Subway is mine for the Slammin'" made it difficult to take him seriously. Persona 5: The Phantom X's Director Yusuke Nitta also criticized Kiuchi and said that the writer behind Kiuchi was no longer on the development team. and won Mobile Game of the Year at the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. ==Notes==