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Persona 5 Royal

Persona 5 is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by P-Studio. The game is the sixth installment in the Persona series, itself a spin-off from the Megami Tensei franchise.

Role-playing (RPG)Adventure

Time to beat: about 117.9 hours
Plays offline: Yes

Overview

Persona 5 is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by P-Studio. The game is the sixth installment in the Persona series, itself a spin-off from the Megami Tensei franchise. Published by Atlus in Japan and North America, and Deep Silver in PAL territories, it was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan on September 15, 2016 and worldwide on April 4, 2017. An enhanced version featuring new content, Persona 5 Royal, was released by Atlus for PlayStation 4 in Japan on October 31, 2019, while parent company Sega published the game worldwide on March 31, 2020. Royal was released on the PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows on October 21, 2022.

As with previous games in the series, the party battles enemies known as Shadows using physical manifestations of their psyche known as Personas. The game incorporates role-playing and dungeon crawling elements alongside social simulation scenarios. Set in modern-day Tokyo, the story follows a player-named high school student, referred to by his codename Joker. After being framed for assault and put on probation, the protagonist relocates to the fictional neighborhood Yongen-Jaya and transfers to a new school. Over the course of a school year, he and other acquainted students awaken to a special power, becoming a group of secret vigilantes referred to as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. The group explores a supernatural realm born from humanity's subconscious desires nicknamed the Metaverse, in order to steal malevolent intent from the hearts of adults. Its themes revolve around attaining freedom from the limitations of modern society; the story was strongly inspired by picaresque fiction, and the party's Personas were based on literary outlaws and rebels.

First announced in 2013, Persona 5 was developed by P-Studio, an internal development division within Atlus, at the time led by game director and producer Katsura Hashino. Along with Hashino, returning staff from earlier Persona games included character designer Shigenori Soejima and music composer Shoji Meguro. Work on the game began during Persona 4's development and commenced into full production after the release of Catherine in 2011. Initially slated for a late 2014 release date, Persona 5 saw several delays due to being unfinished.