Persona 3, known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 outside Japan, is a 2006 role-playing video game created by Atlus. It is the fourth main game in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei series. The game was first released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2006 and in North America in 2007. It has been released in improved versions and on other platforms, including Persona 3 FES, an updated version with a new ending, released for PlayStation 2 in Japan in 2007 and globally in 2008. A version for the PlayStation Portable, Persona 3 Portable, was released in Japan in 2009, North America in 2010, and Europe in 2011. It was later released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2023. Persona 3 Reload, a remake of the original game and its ending, was released in February 2024 for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, with a Nintendo Switch 2 version planned for October 2025.
In Persona 3, players control a high school student who joins a group called the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad" (SEES). This group investigates a mysterious time period called the "Dark Hour," during which they enter a tower named Tartarus to fight monsters called Shadows. Players use a special ability called a Persona, which they summon by using a device called an "Evoker" on their head. The game combines role-playing and simulation elements, as the player progresses through a school year, builds relationships, and gains stronger Personas in battles.
Most critics praised Persona 3 for its social interactions, though some found the combat and environments repetitive. The Persona 3 FES ending was said to provide closure to the original story but was criticized for removing the simulation features. Persona 3 has also inspired other media, including fighting games like Persona 4 Arena and BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, a rhythm game called Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, role-playing games such as Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, and music, radio dramas, manga, anime, and films.
Gameplay
Persona 3 combines parts of traditional role-playing games and simulation games. The game follows the protagonist, who manages their daily life, such as going to school and building relationships with others, while fighting monstrous Shadows during the Dark Hour. Each day has two parts: daytime and evening. Except for planned events, such as story progress or special activities, players choose how to spend their time. Most activities cause time to pass. The types of activities and characters available depend on the day of the week and time of day. Some activities are limited by the protagonist’s three attributes: Academics, Charm, and Courage. These attributes can be improved by completing certain tasks or making specific choices. During the evening, players can visit Tartarus, the game’s main dungeon, to gain experience and collect new items. On the day of the full moon, players face a boss battle to advance the story.
A key part of the game is Personas, which are creatures and figures linked to the Major Arcana of the Tarot. Each Persona has strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, such as attacking, supporting, or passive effects. While other main characters have their own Personas, some of which change during key story moments, the protagonist can use multiple Personas and switch between them during battles. New Personas can be created by visiting the Velvet Room and combining existing ones. The resulting Persona inherits some abilities from the ones used. The protagonist’s level limits which Personas can be created. Personas can also be obtained after battles during Shuffle Time or summoned from the Persona Compendium for a fee. The Velvet Room also lets players complete tasks, like finding items, for rewards.
The game introduces "social links," which are bonds formed with other characters. Each social link represents a Major Arcana. Players improve these links by spending time with characters. If a Persona of a specific Arcana is created and the corresponding social link is active, the player gains an experience bonus. Higher social link ranks provide greater bonuses. Using a Persona of a specific Arcana can help improve its social link. Reaching the highest rank for a social link allows players to create unique Personas tied to that Arcana. However, negative actions, such as choosing incorrect dialogue or dating multiple characters at once, can break or reverse a social link. Broken links prevent the protagonist from using Personas of that Arcana in battle until the link is repaired by reconciling with the character.
Tartarus is the game’s main dungeon, which can be entered during the evening if conditions are met, such as certain characters being available. Players can direct other party members to split up or automatically attack Shadows. Players will eventually face boss floors, where they must defeat strong Shadows to progress. Some floors block further movement until the story advances. Occasionally, civilians may appear in Tartarus; rescuing them before the full moon grants rewards. Spending too much time in Tartarus can make characters "Tired" or "Sick," which harms their performance in battles. These effects may also hinder activities like studying at night. Players can recover by using items, visiting the infirmary, or sleeping early.
Battles occur when the player encounters a Shadow. The battle party includes anyone nearby. Attacking a Shadow without being noticed gives the player an advantage, while being attacked first gives the enemy an advantage. Battles use the "Press Turn" system, where players and enemies take turns attacking with weapons, items, or Persona abilities. Players can assign battle strategies to party members using the Tactics option. In Persona 3 Portable, players can also give direct commands. Attacks are divided into three physical types and six elemental types. Both Personas and Shadows have strengths and weaknesses against these types. Physical attacks cost HP, while elemental and support magic cost SP. Hitting an enemy’s weakness or landing a critical attack can knock them down, giving the player an extra turn. Enemies can also knock down party members. If all enemies are knocked down, the party may perform an All-Out Attack, dealing heavy damage to all enemies. Winning a battle gives experience points, which are shared among the party. Enough experience allows Personas to level up, improving their stats and unlocking new abilities.
Story
The story of Persona 3 takes place in 2009 in the Japanese city of Tatsumi Port Island, which was built and funded by the Kirijo Corporation. Ten years before the game begins, experiments created the Dark Hour, a time that exists between days. During the Dark Hour, most people are turned into coffins and do not realize it. However, a few people remain aware. At this time, reality changes: Gekkoukan High School, where most students attend during the day, becomes a maze-like tower called Tartarus. Shadows, monstrous beings, roam Tartarus and attack people who are still awake, leaving them almost unable to think or move outside the Dark Hour. To fight Shadows and learn about the Dark Hour, a group of high school students formed the "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad," or SEES. Members of SEES can summon Personas, which are described as "a second soul that lives deep within a person's heart. It is a different personality that appears when someone faces something from outside this world." Personas are summoned by using an Evoker, a gun-like object held to the head.
The main character is a silent player who names the character at the start of the game. Officially, the character is named Makoto Yuki. Ten years before the game begins, Makoto lost his parents and became an orphan. Now, he returns to the city where he grew up to attend Gekkoukan High School. After discovering his ability to summon a Persona, he joins SEES. Other members of SEES include Yukari Takeba, a friendly and popular girl; Junpei Iori, a class clown and Makoto’s best friend; Akihiko Sanada, a calm senior and leader of the school’s boxing team; and Mitsuru Kirijo, the president of the student council and daughter of the Kirijo Group’s leader, who helps during battles. Later, SEES gains new members: Fuuka Yamagishi, a shy girl who replaces Mitsuru as support; Aigis, a female android created by the Kirijo Group to fight Shadows; Ken Amada, an elementary school student whose mother was accidentally killed by a Persona user; Shinjiro Aragaki, a former SEES member who left due to past events; and Koromaru, a dog that can summon a Persona.
Makoto moves into a dorm in the city and transfers to Gekkoukan High School. On his third day in the city, during the Dark Hour, he is attacked by Shadows and discovers his Persona. After defeating them, he joins SEES, a group of students who fight Shadows and explore Tartarus. During full moons, the city is attacked by a Shadow stronger than those in Tartarus. After several attacks, Mitsuru reveals that the Kirijo Group, a research company founded by Mitsuru’s grandfather, conducted experiments ten years earlier to contain Shadows. These experiments failed, allowing Shadows to escape and form twelve larger creatures. SEES’ leader, Shuji Ikutsuki, tells the group that defeating the twelve larger Shadows will end the Dark Hour and destroy Tartarus.
While vacationing on Yakushima, Makoto meets Aigis, a Persona-wielding machine who wants to be near him. After defeating the twelfth Shadow, SEES learns that Ikutsuki lied. Destroying the larger Shadows has freed parts of Nyx, a being called the "maternal being," who will end the world if fully restored. Nyx created Shadows and is drawn to Earth by the Appriser, or "Death." Ikutsuki plans to sacrifice SEES to speed up Nyx’s arrival, believing he will become the "prince" of the new world. He is wounded in a fight with Mitsuru’s father, Takeharu Kirijo, and jumps from Tartarus to his death.
SEES meets the Appriser in the form of Ryoji Mochizuki, a new student at Gekkoukan High School. In December, Aigis and Ryoji explain that the Shadow experiments ten years earlier created the Death Shadow, which was sealed inside Makoto when he was a child. The Death Shadow’s purpose is to bring Nyx to Earth and end life on the planet. Ryoji says Nyx cannot be defeated, but offers SEES a choice: if they kill him, their memories of the Dark Hour and Tartarus will be erased, allowing them to live unaware of their fate.
On New Year’s Eve, the player decides whether to kill or spare Ryoji. If Makoto kills him, the game ends with SEES members (except Aigis) forgetting about the Dark Hour and Tartarus. They live happily until Nyx ends the world. If Ryoji is spared, SEES fights him on January 31, where he transforms into the Nyx Avatar. They defeat Nyx Avatar, but Nyx continues to come to Earth. Makoto awakens the "Universe" power to seal Nyx and restore the world. On Graduation Day, Makoto and Aigis go to the school’s roof. Aigis thanks Makoto for giving her a purpose, then Makoto closes his eyes.
The events of The Answer begin on March 31, shortly after the original game ends. The opening shows that Makoto died at the end of the original story, which the other characters believe is related to him defeating Nyx. The school year has ended, the dorm is closing, and SEES is breaking apart. During their last dinner party, SEES members discover they are trapped in the dorm, and March 31 is repeating. A large door opens, and SEES is attacked by Metis, an anti-shadow weapon like Aigis. While fighting Metis to protect her friends, Aigis gains the Wild Card ability, which Makoto previously had. Metis tries to stop the time loop to save Aigis, whom she calls her "sister."
Under the dorm is the Abyss of Time, a complex underground area with many levels. At the bottom of each level, SEES sees memories of themselves awakening to their Personas. At the seventh and final level, SEES fights a Shadow-like version of Makoto, then receives a key. Combining the keys would end the time loop. Metis offers an alternative: using the keys to travel back in time to before Makoto’s death. Unable to agree, SEES fights over the keys. Aigis and Metis take all eight keys, which fuse into the Final Key. They find a new door in the Abyss of Time and travel to the moment when Makoto sealed Nyx.
Metis explains that the seal’s purpose was not to trap Ny
Development
Persona 3 began development in 2003, after the completion of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and Digital Devil Saga. In March 2006, the first details about Persona 3 were announced in the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsū. The article included the game's Japanese release date of July 13, 2006, and described the game's story, combat system, and the social link system (called "community" in the Japanese version). It also introduced three characters—the protagonist, Junpei, and Yukari—and their Personas: Orpheus, Hermes, and Io.
Shigenori Soejima was the main character artist and art director for Persona 3. Previously, Kazuma Kaneko had designed characters for earlier Persona games, but he gave Soejima the job to help him gain experience. Soejima felt pressure while designing characters because he wanted to satisfy fans of the series. The goal was to make players of the Megami Tensei series feel proud of supporting the Persona series. In an interview, Soejima compared the game's style to a fantasy manga, noting the use of mecha-like Personas and Mitsuru's bold fashion. Soejima later designed the character Metis for FES. The game's user interface used a blue color to create a cool and stylish look. The anime cutscenes were made by Point Pictures.
In an interview with Play magazine, lead director Katsura Hashino explained why party members were controlled by artificial intelligence: "It’s more fun to let the AI control the characters so their personalities shine through." He added that no one on the development team objected to this choice. However, some players did not like the AI system. Later, the use of AI was described as a design choice that reflected the game's theme of overcoming fear through "bonds." Each character had their own personality, and players could only influence them by interacting with them. Unlike previous games, Persona 3 did not include negotiation systems that allowed players to talk to enemies during battles. Instead, the development team said the social elements in Persona 3 and its sequel, Persona 4, served a similar purpose. Maragos said in an interview that negotiation was still present in the game, especially in Persona Fusion, even if it was not obvious.
Yu Namba and Nich Maragos handled the localization of Persona 3. They tried to keep as much of the original Japanese content as possible, continuing a practice started with Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. One goal was to share Japanese culture with Western audiences. The team kept honorifics in the English version because they added meaning to the text. During translation, some jokes that did not make sense in Western culture were changed to similar jokes that worked better. For example, school tests based on English were adjusted, and Mitsuru’s second language was changed from English to French because of her elegant appearance. References to Shin Megami Tensei were also updated to refer to Persona 2.
The original soundtrack for Persona 3 was composed by Shoji Meguro. It was released as a two-disc album in Japan on July 19, 2006. A selection of tracks was included with the North American version of the game. An arranged album titled Burn My Dread -Reincarnation: Persona 3- was released in Japan on April 18, 2007. It included 11 remixed tracks and an extended version of the song "Burn My Dread." Meguro said working on Persona 3 was his first chance to fully express his music in video games. The soundtrack used many vocal songs. A song from earlier Persona games, "Aria of the Soul," was reused as the theme for the Velvet Room. The battle theme, "Mass Destruction," was originally a prototype but became popular and was added to the final game. Earlier, the PlayStation’s hardware limited music to small files, which Meguro felt made the music sound low quality. The PlayStation 2 allowed music to be played in real time, which Meguro said let him create music without compromises. He was also concerned about how English lyrics would be pronounced.
Meguro returned to compose new music for Persona 3 FES, which was released in Japan on May 3, 2007. The soundtrack included original music for FES and remixed tracks from earlier Persona games. "The Snow Queen" was a remix of a song from Revelations: Persona, and "Maya's Theme" and "Time Castle" were remixed from Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Persona 3 Portable added new background music for the female protagonist. The official soundtrack for Persona 3 Portable was released in Japan on November 25, 2009.
Promotion and release
The North American release of Persona 3 came in a collector's edition box that included the game, a soundtrack disc, and a 52-page art book. The game was originally planned to release on July 24, 2007. However, Atlus faced a problem with making the art book a few days before the planned release. Instead of sending the game without the book, the company decided to delay the release by three weeks, to August 14. Atlus shared an official statement explaining that the delay was necessary to keep the quality of the package, which would have been "damaged beyond repair" if they had changed or removed the deluxe package.
Persona 3 FES is an expanded version of Persona 3 that includes updates to the original game (called "The Journey" or "Episode Yourself" in the Japanese version), a new Hard difficulty option, and a new ending where players control Aigis (called "The Answer" or "Episode Aegis" in the Japanese version). The main gameplay of "The Answer" is similar to "The Journey," but players no longer attend school, and the daily life system is removed. Players who owned the original Persona 3 can transfer data from their save file, such as the compendium, social stats, and maxed social link items. The game's director, Katsura Hashino, explained that the subtitle "FES" comes from the word "festival."
Persona 3 FES was first released with the original game in two versions: the "Regular Edition," which included both the "director's cut" version of Persona 3 and the new ending on a separate disc, and the "Append Edition," which had the same content but required the original Persona 3 disc to play initially. After creating a save file, the "Append Edition" could be played alone. These versions were released in Japan on April 19, 2007.
At the time, Atlus had no plans to release FES outside Japan. Confirmation came in February 2008, when the North American release date was set for April 22, 2008. The European version, made by Koei, was released on October 17, 2008.
An exclusive limited edition bundle was released on Amazon.com on November 28, 2008. It included the FES version of the game, the same art book and soundtrack disc that came with the North American release of the original game.
The FES edition of the game was made available on the PlayStation Network as a PS2 Classic for PlayStation 3 on April 10, 2012.
Persona 3 Portable is an improved version of Persona 3 for the PlayStation Portable. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2009, and in North America on July 6, 2010. It was released in most of Europe on April 29, 2011, and in the UK on April 28, 2011. A report in Famitsū said players could choose to play as a female protagonist. This choice changes parts of the story, such as the appearance of the first Persona, Orpheus, and replaces Elizabeth, Igor’s assistant in the Velvet Room, with a male character named Theodore. It also changes some parts of the social link stories. In addition to the new character, two new difficulty levels were added to the original game and FES’s three. Persona 3 Portable only includes the story of the original Persona 3, called "The Journey," but some plot changes were made, regardless of the character chosen.
The game’s updated combat system includes features from Persona 4. Players can directly control every character instead of relying on the game’s artificial intelligence. A guarding ability was added, and allies will take fatal attacks for the protagonist, preventing their death. Outside of Tartarus, players guide an on-screen cursor to move around and interact with characters and objects instead of controlling the protagonist directly. The original game’s voice acting is included, but characters are not shown in the world and are instead represented by on-screen portraits. The anime cutscenes from the original game were replaced with in-game graphics. Shoji Meguro composed 10 new musical tracks for Persona 3 Portable, most of which were written for the female protagonist’s playthrough. Characters from other Atlus games, such as Yukiko Amagi from Persona 4 and Vincent Brooks from Catherine, made appearances in Persona 3 Portable.
Persona 3 Portable was sold as a standalone game and as part of a bundle that included a T-shirt and desk calendar. In North America, Atlus U.S.A. offered Junpei’s baseball cap as a pre-order bonus. A version of Persona 3 Portable was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on January 19, 2023. Limited Run Games announced in September 2023 that they would release special physical versions of Persona 3 Portable for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox consoles, as well as a similar release for Persona 4 Golden. These versions include a standard physical copy, a "Grimoire Edition" with a special SteelBook case, Grimoire Book box, and slipcover, and a "S.E.E.S. Edition" that also includes a replica of the Evoker used by the main party to summon Personas and a 3D shadow box showing the cut-in graphic for the All-Out Attack sequence. Pre-orders for these physical releases began on September 29, 2023, and ended on November 12, 2023.
Reception
Persona 3 received positive reviews when it was released, earning a Metacritic score of 86. Shane Bettenhausen from 1UP.com said the game offered a new and different approach to the MegaTen [Megami Tensei] concept and called it the best RPG for the PS2 that year. He praised the "excellent" AI that directed party members during battles, calling it the series' fastest and most dynamic battle system. Jeff Haynes from IGN criticized the system, noting that it could sometimes lead to the player's character dying, which would end the game.
GameTrailers called the game "a rare supernatural delicacy," saying it was an RPG that fans of the genre should not miss. Patrick Joynt from GameSpy praised the game's social elements, calling the social links "almost universally fascinating." He said the simulation elements might be challenging for fans of role-playing or Megami Tensei games but noted the game was well-made. Heidi Kemps from GamesRadar said the game's teenage themes were a fresh change from other games in the genre, as they focused on social awkwardness common during that life stage. Joe Juba from Game Informer said the game's environments were weak because most of the game took place in one tower [Tartarus]. He also noted that the game's connection to the Megami Tensei series might confuse new players unfamiliar with terms like "bufu," which means "ice attack."
Persona 3 FES received a Metacritic score of 89, slightly higher than Persona 3. Shane Bettenhausen said the story of The Answer provided needed closure to The Journey. Kevin VanOrd called FES a "wonderfully enhanced version" of an already great RPG and recommended it to new and returning players. Some reviewers criticized The Answer for not including the social elements of the original game, calling it less interesting. Jeff Haynes said the change brought back a classic, more difficult RPG style but lost what made Persona 3 unique. Reviews from GameSpy and IGN repeated issues from the original game, such as the inability to directly control party members in battle.
While some critics, like IGN, said Persona 3 Portable "lost some of its polish," it was as well-received as FES, earning an 89 out of 100 on Metacritic and becoming the third best-reviewed PSP game on the site. It was praised for being worth playing again despite being released twice before. GamesRadar, IGN, 1UP.com, and GamePro all supported this view. A reviewer from Famitsu said the remake included enough changes to the Social Links to make it enjoyable for returning players. Websites like Destructoid and GamePro gave it perfect scores. GameTrailers nominated the game for "Best PSP Game" and "Best RPG," but it lost to God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Mass Effect 2, respectively. Three RPG-focused websites honored it with awards: RPGamer (Best Re-release), RPGFan (Best Traditional RPG on Handheld), and RPGLand (Best Port).
Shane Bettenhausen from 1UP.com said the inclusion of Evokers was a bold and surprising move by Atlus, but he believed it fit the game's dark tone. Joe Juba from Game Informer also said the Evokers concept worked well with the game's tone. Jeff Haynes from IGN found the Evoker animations "intriguing and shocking at the same time." Kevin VanOrd from GameSpot said the Evokers never lost their appeal, even after many hours of gameplay. Atlus USA did not remove the Evokers from the global release of Persona 3, despite potential controversy. Nich Maragos from the localization team said Atlus did not receive any criticism for including the Evokers.
The PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, and Switch versions of Persona 3 Portable received "generally favorable reviews" according to Metacritic.
Persona 3 sold 127,472 copies in its first week and 210,319 copies overall in Japan by 2008. Persona 3 Portable sold over 158,000 copies in Japan within its first month of release.
Persona 3 was named the best role-playing game of 2006 by Famitsu and of 2007 by GameSpot and RPGFan. GameSpy gave it the 2007 PS2 RPG of the Year award and ranked it second in the 2007 PS2 Top 10 Games of the Year. Persona 3 was nominated for Best RPG at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards but lost to Mass Effect. 1UP.com's 2007 game awards, featured in the March 2008 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, included Persona 3, which won the award for "Most controversial game that created no controversy."
IGN ranked Persona 3 FES fifteenth in their list of "The Top 25 PS2 Games of All Time." In 2010, Persona 3 was listed first on RPGamer's "Top RPGs of the Decade" and second on RPGFan's "Top 20 RPGs of the Past Decade" list.
Legacy
An internet meme about a typo changing the game's song "Burn My Dread" to "Burn My Bread" became very popular online.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth is a dungeon crawler RPG made for the Nintendo 3DS. It includes characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4, and uses some gameplay ideas from the Etrian Odyssey series. The Persona 3 story begins two weeks before October 4. When the group called SEES plans to enter Tartarus that night, they are pulled into the Velvet Room and sent to a school they have never seen. While exploring, they meet Zen, Rei, and the Investigation Team, who also arrived at the school. The group must work together to escape. The game was released in Japan on June 5, 2014, North America on November 25, 2014, and Europe on November 28, 2014.
The fighting game Persona 4 Arena and its sequel Persona 4 Arena Ultimax continue the story of the SEES members.
A rhythm game called Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, based on the setting and characters of Persona 3, was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in May 2018 and worldwide in December 2018, along with Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight.
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth is a sequel to Persona Q. It was released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan on November 29, 2018, and worldwide on June 4, 2019. The game includes characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4, plus the Phantom Thieves of Hearts from Persona 5 and the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable.
Persona 3 Reload is a remake of Persona 3 made using Unreal Engine 4. It was released on February 2, 2024, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A version for Nintendo Switch 2 came out on October 23, 2025. The game was announced on June 11, 2023, after leaked footage appeared in April 2023.
Producer Ryouta Niizuma said the team focused on remaking the original Persona 3 and left out the epilogue from FES and the female protagonist from Portable. However, the "The Answer" epilogue was later added as "Episode Aigis" through downloadable content. The English version uses mostly new voice actors, except Tara Platt, who revoiced Mitsuru and Elizabeth from the original game.
Kotobukiya, a Japanese toy company, made figurines of the game's protagonist, Aigis, Mitsuru, and Akihiko. These figurines have parts that can be swapped, like an Evoker or weapon, and stored in the base. Another company, Alter, released 1:8 scale figurines of Elizabeth, Aigis, and Mitsuru. The headphones worn by the protagonist are sold by Audio-Technica as model ATH-EM700 (Japan-only version). Atlus worked with Enterbrain to publish strategy guides and an artbook about the game's characters and designs.
A manga adaptation of Persona 3, written and drawn by Shūji Sogabe, was published monthly in the Japanese magazine Dengeki Maoh until it paused when Persona 4 was released. It later resumed in Atlus's Persona Magazine starting November 7, 2011. As of February 2017, 11 volumes were released.
A non-canonical anime called Persona: Trinity Soul aired in Japan starting January 2008 and had 26 episodes. Though it is not part of the main story, it takes place 10 years after Persona 3 and includes some plot ideas, featuring Akihiko as a secondary character and using Persona suppressors. NIS America released the anime in two box sets with Japanese audio in 2010.
In June 2012, it was announced that Persona 3 would get a four-part film series. The first film was made by AIC ASTA, and the next three by A-1 Pictures. The first film was directed by Noriaki Akitaya, the second and fourth by Tomohisa Taguchi, and the third by Keitaro Motonaga. The original voice actors from the game returned for the films.
Radio dramas based on Persona 3 and Persona 3 FES were released in Japan. Persona 3 Drama CD: A Certain Day of Summer includes an original story with the game's cast. Persona 3 Drama CD Vol. 2 -Moonlight- connects the story of Persona 3 with the epilogue from Persona 3 FES. From February to June 2008, five CDs were released, each focusing on different characters. In early 2009, a two-volume story about Mitsuru was released.
Persona 3 was adapted into five live stage musicals, starting in 2014. The plays were announced in August 2013 and written by Kumagai and Kotora Kagurazuka, with music by Meguro. The plays included versions for both the male and female protagonists, named Sakuya Shiomi and Kotone Shiomi, with unique scenes for each. The musicals featured actors like Shouta Aoi, Kana Asumi, Maho Tomita, Genki Okawa, Yuki Fujiwara, Asami Tano, Marina Tanoue, ZAQ, Waku Sakaguchi, and Tomonori Suzuki. The plays were also broadcast live on Niconico and shown on Tokyo MX.
The first musical, Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade: The Blue Awakening, ran from January 8–12, 2014, at Theater G Rosso, and was released on May 14, 2014. It covered events up to Fuuka joining the group.
A sequel, Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade: The Ultramarine Labyrinth, ran from September 16–24, 20