Persona 5 is a role-playing video game released in 2016. It is the sixth game in the Persona series, which is part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. Atlus published the game in Japan and North America, while Deep Silver published it in PAL regions. It was first released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on September 15, 2016, and later released worldwide on April 4, 2017. An improved version called Persona 5 Royal was released by Atlus in Japan on October 31, 2019, and by Sega globally on March 31, 2020. Royal was later released on PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows on October 21, 2022.
In the game, players control a high school student named Joker, who is sent to a new school in Yongen-Jaya after being wrongly accused of a crime. Joker and other students gain special powers and form a group called the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. They enter a supernatural world called the Metaverse to remove harmful thoughts from adults. The story explores themes of freedom and challenges modern society’s rules. The game’s characters and Personas are inspired by literary figures known for rebellion and defiance.
Persona 5 was first announced in 2013 and developed by P-Studio, a team within Atlus led by Katsura Hashino. Other team members included Shigenori Soejima, who designed characters, and Shoji Meguro, who composed the music. Development began during the making of Persona 4 and continued after the release of Catherine in 2011. The game was delayed multiple times because it was not finished on time.
Persona 5 received high praise for its visuals, gameplay, story, characters, and music. The Royal version was also well-received for adding new content. Including sales of Royal, Persona 5 has sold over 10.45 million copies by March 2025, making it the best-selling game in the Megami Tensei franchise. Critics have called it one of the greatest video games ever made. The game has also inspired related media, including four spin-off games, manga, anime, and appearances in other games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. A sequel, Persona 5 Strikers, was released on February 20, 2020.
Gameplay
Persona 5 is a role-playing video game in which the player controls a male high school student named Joker. The game takes place over one year in modern-day Tokyo. The game follows a day and night cycle and includes weather changes that influence how characters behave, similar to a social simulation game. During the year, Joker attends school and experiences both planned and random events. Outside of school, he can work part-time jobs, enjoy hobbies, or create items to use in dungeons or battles. His actions in the real world affect his social skills, which unlock new activities and choices.
Joker can build relationships with other characters through a system called "Confidants," which is an updated version of the "Social Link" system from earlier games in the series. By improving these relationships, players can unlock special abilities in battles. Building strong Confidant ranks with party members grants combat skills, while improving ranks with non-party characters provides benefits like new equipment or faster experience point gains.
The game includes two types of dungeon exploration in a world called the Metaverse: story-specific dungeons called Palaces and a randomly generated dungeon called Mementos. Both types of dungeons are filled with Shadows, which are enemies based on mythological and religious figures. In Mementos, the party can complete quests given by Confidants or other characters. Players can use stealth to avoid enemies or solve puzzles using Joker's "Third Eye" ability, which helps identify objects and enemy strengths. Palaces contain "Safe Rooms," where players can save their progress or travel quickly to other Safe Rooms.
The game uses a turn-based combat system, where battles begin when enemies are encountered or when the party ambushes them. During battles, characters use weapons and summon Personas, which are powerful spirits representing the characters' inner thoughts. Hitting an enemy's weakness knocks them down and gives the player an extra turn. If all enemies are knocked down, a "Hold Up" occurs, allowing the party to perform a powerful attack, demand items, or convince an enemy Shadow to join Joker's team. A character is knocked out when they lose all their health, and the game ends if Joker is defeated.
New Personas can be obtained by negotiating with enemies or through Confidant links. Personas are grouped by types called "arcana." In the Velvet Room, a special location in the game, Personas can be combined using a process called "Guillotine." The resulting Persona gains skills and stats from its parents, with more skills passed on if the parent Personas have many abilities. The strength of the new Persona depends on how advanced the Confidant link is. Personas can also be used to gain experience points for other Personas, create high-value items, or train for faster skill gains.
The game includes online features through the "Thieves Guild," where players can view others' daily activities or help them in the Metaverse.
Synopsis
Persona 5 is set in the Persona universe, where a group of high school students use Personas, which are visible forms of their inner thoughts. The story starts in April "20XX (2016)" and lasts about a year. It takes place in modern-day Tokyo, with real locations like Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya. A key location is Shujin Academy, the school the main character attends. Another important place is the "Metaverse," a magical world made up of people's hidden wishes. In the Metaverse, people with harmful desires create their own "Palace," which looks like a real-world place they know but is twisted by their thoughts. Each Palace has a "Shadow" version of the person who created it, and a "Treasure" that represents their desires. The Velvet Room, a place that helps people use their Personas, returns in Persona 5 and looks like a prison.
The main character is a silent hero named Joker. He leads a group called the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, who use the Metaverse to change the hearts of criminals and others who do harm. Joker is joined by Ryuji Sakamoto, a school troublemaker; Ann Takamaki, a fashion model; and Morgana, a cat-like creature. Later, the group adds Yusuke Kitagawa, an art student; Makoto Niijima, the student council president; Futaba Sakura, a hikikomori (a person who stays home and avoids social contact) and hacker; and Haru Okumura, a wealthy girl who rebels against her father. Other characters include Goro Akechi, a detective; Sae Niijima, Makoto’s older sister and a prosecutor; and Igor, along with his helpers Caroline and Justine, who live in the Velvet Room.
The story is told partly through flashbacks while Sae Niijima questions the main character. After stopping an attack, the main character is framed for a crime and sent to Tokyo to live with his friend Sojiro Sakura and attend Shujin Academy. There, he meets Igor and learns he must use a supernatural app to avoid future problems. This leads him to the Metaverse and the Palace of Suguru Kamoshida, a corrupt teacher, and Ryuji, who was unfairly punished by Kamoshida. When Kamoshida’s Shadow captures them, the main character awakens his Persona, Arsène, to save Ryuji. They meet Morgana, who explains that stealing "Treasures" from Palaces can change people’s hearts. After learning about Kamoshida’s abuse, Ryuji and others join the Phantom Thieves to stop him.
The group later uncovers a larger conspiracy involving a politician named Masayoshi Shido, who framed the main character and used Goro Akechi’s Metaverse powers to achieve his goals. Akechi is revealed to be Shido’s illegitimate son and helps him in a plan for revenge. After defeating Shido, Akechi sacrifices himself to protect the Phantom Thieves. Despite Shido’s arrest, public opinion remains unchanged, and he may be released due to manipulation by his allies.
The Phantom Thieves enter Mementos, the public’s Palace, to steal the Treasure at its center, hoping to change people’s hearts and reveal the truth. Inside, they find the public has lost free will and believes being controlled is freedom. They are expelled by the Treasure, the Holy Grail, and disappear as the Metaverse merges with reality. In the Velvet Room, Igor claims Joker failed, but Caroline and Justine remember their true identities and join Lavenza, revealing Igor was actually Yaldabaoth, a god who controls people. Yaldabaoth, born from humanity’s wish to be ruled, had tricked Joker and Akechi into failing, but the Phantom Thieves’ actions challenge his control.
Development
The game was created by P-Studio, a group inside Atlus that works on the Persona series. Planning for the game started in 2008 after Persona 4 was released. Full development began in 2011, after Catherine was finished. It took five years to make the game. Katsura Hashino, the series director, joined the project later, after Catherine was completed. He said Catherine was like a test for making Persona 5. Hashino was the leader of P-Studio for Persona 5, but after that, he started a new team called Studio Zero. When work began, there were about 40 people on the team. Later, the team grew to 70 people, including 15 planners, 15 programmers, and 30 to 45 designers. One of the designers was Naoya Maeda, who had worked on the Trauma Center series before. Making the game was difficult because the team changed how they worked to use better technology.
The game kept the turn-based battle system from earlier games, but one early idea was to use an action system with real-time elements, which was not used. Instead, real-time commands were added to the battle system. A new feature was dungeons with fixed layouts, unlike the random ones in past games. This helped show the game’s themes and gave experienced players something new. A feature from earlier Persona games and the Megami Tensei series, called Negotiation, was brought back. Hashino added it because fans liked it. The Negotiation system was connected to the idea of Shadows being hidden parts of the mind. The "Hold Up" function was inspired by movies where villains hold people hostage. These features were included to honor the series’ history. The game’s weather and environments were based on the real world. Dungeons had three types: Tokyo streets, places like Joker’s school, and dungeon areas. Some parts of the game take control away from the player, showing how Japanese high schoolers have limited freedom.
Catherine used a game engine called Gamebryo, but Persona 5 used a custom engine. Hashino believed the new engine would help make the game’s ideas look better, even though it made fans wait longer. Atlus also made the software for event scenes, with about 1,160 scenes in the game. Tools for making scenes were improved to use better technology. Character models used a special shading technique to match the game’s style. At first, characters looked realistic like in Catherine, but the team thought that was not right for the Persona series. After trying different styles, they found one that worked for characters and menus. Unlike Persona 4, which had limited body shapes because of older technology, Persona 5 used better tools to customize characters. Two models were used for main characters: one for real-time scenes and another for other parts of the game. For the first time, many Personas were made in high definition, which was very hard for the team.
The story was written by Hashino, with help from Shinji Yamamoto and Yuichiro Tanaka. The idea was to create a story different from Persona 3 and 4, focusing on self-discovery and journeys. At first, the story was about a worldwide trip, but after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Hashino changed it to focus on Japan. The game’s themes may have been influenced by how the Japanese government and people responded to the disaster. Hashino wanted the story to show how people find freedom and how characters overcome challenges. He aimed to make the game easier for new players to understand and give them an emotional experience.
The story was structured like an omnibus, with different villains the group faces. The team was inspired by the Chinese novel Water Margin, the Japanese movie Hakuchuu no Shikaku, and the Spanish novel Lazarillo de Tormes. The game’s style was compared to picaresque fiction, which tells stories about characters moving through society. The team asked how someone like Lupin III would be popular today. This theme showed in how Personas were designed, with styles based on punishments. The idea of "masks" was used more clearly in the story, and the game’s locations were based on real places.
Hashino said the main characters feel they do not belong in society, but the game gives them a sense of belonging. Unlike earlier games, where the group chased villains, Persona 5 focuses more on villains chasing the group. The characters are described as "juvenile academics" who break rules to express themselves. The game shows them finding courage to challenge society’s limits. Unlike past games, the group in Persona 5 willingly takes on the role of masked vigilantes. The cast was originally larger, but the story was already complex, so one character became optional.
Release
Persona 5 was first introduced with a short video in November 2013. At the same time, other games in the series, including Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona 4: Dancing All Night, and a version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax for PlayStation 3, were also announced. The game was originally planned for a late 2014 release on PlayStation 3. In September 2014, during a Sony event, it was announced that the game would also be available on PlayStation 4 and that the release date would be moved to 2015. The director, Katsura Hashino, explained that the delay was needed to fully prepare the game for PlayStation 4 and improve its quality for both versions. A first gameplay video was shown during a live broadcast on February 5, 2015. This video used an instrumental version of the game’s main theme. A Blu-ray Disc with an exclusive trailer was included with the first copies of Persona 4: Dancing All Night sold in Japan on June 25, 2015. At the 2015 Tokyo Game Show, a live stream revealed that the game’s release would be delayed again to late 2016. Hashino apologized for the delay, stating that it was necessary to ensure the game met high-quality standards.
In April 2016, Atlus started a countdown that ended on May 5, 2016. Soon after, a live stream titled "Take Tokyo Tower" was announced, which matched the countdown date. During this event, a trailer revealed the game’s final release date. Persona 5 was released in Japan on September 15, 2016. A special 20th Anniversary Edition was also released, which included all downloadable content (DLC) from Persona 3 and Persona 4, a five-CD music collection featuring songs from all six main games in the series, and an official artbook by Soejima. To celebrate the release, a new segment titled "Persona Stalker Club V" was added to the series-focused variety show "Persona Stalker Club." To promote the game, Atlus partnered with AKG Acoustics to release limited edition wireless headphones inspired by the character Futaba. These headphones came in a box with art by Soejima and a music CD with remixed tracks by Meguro and Kozuka. Character-themed clothing was also released in Japan in early 2018.
After its release, additional character costumes and Personas were made available as paid DLC. These costumes included designs from Persona 3, Persona 4, and other games in the series, such as Revelations: Persona, Persona 2, Shin Megami Tensei If…, Catherine, and others. Each costume set came with music from its respective game, replacing the default battle theme based on the costume Joker wears. Some key Personas from Persona 3 and Persona 4 were released in bundles with new and original designs. PlayStation 4 themes and avatar sets based on the main characters of Persona 5 were also released. A new difficulty setting called "Merciless" was added as free DLC.
The game’s pre-order bonuses and its initial North American release date of February 14, 2017, were announced a week before E3 2016. Its release in Europe and Australia was set for the same date in August 2016. In November 2016, the release date was pushed back to April 4, 2017, because Atlus wanted to ensure the game was of the highest quality. Atlus USA published the game in North America, while Deep Silver handled the European and Australian releases. The English localization was managed by Atlus USA, led by Yu Namba. Namba explained that the team chose the English voice cast from scratch, as this was a new setting for the series. Localizing Persona 5 was described as a large project with the most staff ever assigned to a Persona game. Namba made the final decisions on issues raised during the localization process. In English-speaking regions, the title "Shin Megami Tensei" was removed from the game’s name. The Japanese dub was also made available as free DLC.
After its worldwide release, Atlus shared guidelines for players who streamed footage of the game. The guidelines warned that streaming content past a certain in-game date could result in penalties, such as content ID claims or account suspensions. Many in the gaming press and streaming community criticized the guidelines as overly strict. Three weeks later, Atlus apologized for the tone of the original guidelines and revised the policy to allow more content to be streamed.
Persona 5 Royal, released in Japan as Persona 5: The Royal, is an improved version of the game, similar to Persona 4 Golden. This version adds a new Phantom Thief member named Kasumi Yoshizawa, a new Palace, a new city area (Kichijōji), new music, additional story and social elements, a playable third semester, and support for PlayStation 4 Pro. It also includes subtitles in French, German, Italian, and Spanish for the first time in the series. A new opening sequence was directed by Yuichiro Hayashi and produced by MAPPA, with Domerica co-producing the new anime cutscenes. Atlus first hinted at the game as "Persona 5 R" in December 2018 and officially revealed it in April 2019. It was released for PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019, and worldwide on March 31, 2020. The game was later released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on October 21, 2022. These versions were developed by Sega, the parent company of Atlus.
Sega published Persona 5 Royal in Europe and Australia, taking over from Deep Silver, who published the original game in those regions. Upon release, the game included new character costume sets and Personas as paid DLC. These costumes were based on Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. Kasumi also received her own costume bundle. Additional Personas from Persona 3 and Persona 4 were added, along with DLC featuring battles against the protagonists of those games. All DLC from the original game was made available for free to owners of Persona 5 Royal. Paid DLC 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 allow upgrades or save data transfers from the PlayStation 4 version.
Reception
Review sites like Metacritic gave Persona 5 "universal acclaim." Famitsu gave it a very high score, and PlayStation Official Magazine – UK called it "a masterpiece." IGN's Andrew Goldfarb said Persona 5 was "a great and unforgettable experience" and one of the best role-playing games in the last decade. RPGamer noted that Atlus, the game's creator, made a game with excellent style, fun gameplay, and a meaningful story. The game's graphics and art were also praised by critics.
Some critics pointed out that the English version of the game had poor writing, with Polygon calling it "mediocre." Others mentioned that the game's portrayal of LGBTQ topics was not inclusive, with some characters treated as jokes. These scenes were changed in the Western version of Persona 5 Royal. Some reviewers said these changes were small improvements, but the game still did not fully support LGBTQ identities. Some critics also said the game was too long for some players.
Persona 5 Royal received "universal acclaim" from critics, with a higher score than the original game. It is one of the top-rated PlayStation 4 games on Metacritic, along with The Last of Us Remastered. IGN listed it as one of the best role-playing games today. Famitsu praised the new features in Royal. GameSpot's Michael Higham said the added music, characters, and story made the game better. He called Royal "an unforgettable and powerful RPG" and one of the best games of its time. IGN's Leana Hafer said Royal improved the original game and made it even better. She praised the changes to the Mementos dungeons, calling them a major improvement.
Sales of Persona 5 increased after Final Fantasy XV was delayed. On Amazon Japan, sales rose by 450%, making it the second-best-selling game. In its first week, the PS4 version sold 264,793 copies, and the PS3 version sold 72,974 copies, totaling 337,767 units. This made Persona 5 the fastest-selling game in the series' history. By September 2016, over 550,000 copies were sold worldwide. In Japan, it became Atlus' best-selling game.
Outside Japan, Persona 5 sold five times more than Persona 4. It topped PlayStation Network charts and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide by 2017. Sales reached over 2 million by 2017, making it the best-selling game in the series. The game helped increase Sega's revenue in 2017. At the 2018 PlayStation Awards, it won the Platinum Prize for selling over a million copies in Asia. By December 2019, over 3.2 million copies of Persona 5 were sold worldwide.
Persona 5 Royal sold over 400,000 copies in Japan by December 2019. Combined sales of Persona 5 and Royal reached over 3.6 million units worldwide. In February 2020, Royal topped sales charts in South Korea and Taiwan. In the UK, Royal debuted at number five. By July 2020, Royal had sold over 1.4 million copies, bringing total sales to over 4.6 million. By June 2021, combined sales of Persona 5 and Royal reached over 5 million units.
When the game launched on other platforms in October 2022, the Nintendo Switch version sold 45,998 copies, and the PlayStation 5 version sold 5,051 copies. In the UK, the Switch version made up 79% of Royal's sales. By November 2022, the PlayStation 4 version of Royal sold 2.3 million copies. By April 2023, other platform versions sold 1.7 million copies, bringing Royal's total sales to 4 million. Combined sales of all Persona 5 versions reached 7.2 million units by December 2023. By March 2025, Royal had sold 7.25 million copies, bringing total sales of all Persona 5 versions to 10.45 million.
Persona 5 won two awards at the 2016 PlayStation Awards. At The Game Awards 2017, it was nominated for "Game of the Year," "Best Art Direction," "Best Score/Music," and "Best Role Playing Game," winning the last category. It also won the Award for Excellence at the Japan Game Awards 2017. GameSpot named it the second-best game of 2017, and IGN's 2017 awards included "Best RPG." The game was nominated for other awards, including "Best International Game" and "Best Music."
In 2024, a cover of "Last Surprise" by The 8-Bit Big Band was nominated for a Grammy Award. Persona 5 was ranked among the best games of 2017 by multiple publications. It won awards like "Best Role-Playing Game" from Game Informer and was nominated for "Best PS4 Game" and "Best Narrative." At the D.I.C.E. Awards, it was nominated for "Role-Playing Game of the Year." It won the Tin Pan Alley Award for "Best Music in a Game" and was nominated for "Best Visual Art" and "Excellence in Art."
Persona 5 Royal won "Best Music" at the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2019. It was nominated for "Best RPG" and "Role-Playing Game of the Year" at The Game Awards 2020 and the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, but lost both to Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Legacy
Since its release, Persona 5 has been considered one of the greatest role-playing games and one of the greatest games of all time. In 2017, Edwin Garcia of Nerdist wrote that the game was "one of the best RPGs of the past few years" and said it "belongs among the greatest of all time." Alex Donaldson of VG247 compared the game to other well-known RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII, stating it reminded people of the best times for the RPG genre. In 2023, Willa Rowe of Inverse called the game "one of the best RPGs in recent memory" and said it was the best heist game, praising its detailed planning and execution in dungeon design. Reporters noted that Persona 5 influenced other games, such as Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025). Guillaume Broche, lead director of Sandfall Interactive, and Masahiro Sakurai, a Japanese game designer, both praised the game's stylish user interface as one of their favorites.
Persona 5 and its sequel, Persona 5 Royal, have been listed on many critic rankings of the best games of all time. IGN ranked Persona 5 at #78 in its 2019 list of the top 100 games and placed Persona 5 Royal at #81 in its 2021 list. The publication also ranked Persona 5 at #50 in its list of the 100 best RPGs. USA Today’s gaming section, For The Win, listed the game at #11, and GQ ranked it at #64 in a similar list in 2023. A 2017 poll by Famitsu readers named Persona 5 the greatest game of all time.
A standalone anime special, Persona 5: The Animation – The Day Breakers, aired in Japan on September 3, 2016. Created by A-1 Pictures, The Day Breakers takes place during the events of the game and is presented as a separate story. A manga adaptation of Persona 5, written by Hisato Murasaki, began being published online on September 15, 2016. Persona 5: The Animation, an anime series based on the game, was produced by CloverWorks and began airing in April 2018. Stage plays titled Persona 5: The Stage have been performed in Japan, with music composed by Atsushi Kitajoh.
Rhythm game Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, featuring the main characters of Persona 5, was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2018. The characters also appear in Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, a game for Nintendo 3DS, also released in 2018. Persona 5 Strikers, an action role-playing game and sequel to Persona 5 developed with Omega Force, was released in Japan in 2020 and worldwide in 2021 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Windows. A tactical role-playing game spinoff called Persona 5 Tactica was released in 2023. A mobile game named Persona 5: The Phantom X, available for Android and iOS, was announced in 2023. It is developed by Black Wings Game Studio and published by Perfect World Games, with assistance from P-Studio. In The Phantom X, characters from Persona 5 can be summoned by players through a gacha system.
Joker, a main character from Persona 5, is playable through 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 said Joker represented the style he wanted for Ultimate’s DLC, adding that he wanted characters who were unique and fun to use in the game. Other characters and elements from Persona 5 have also appeared in other games.