Five years ago today (at the time of writing), on the 15th September 2016, Persona 5 released in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. We had honestly forgotten that it was a PS3 game!
To celebrate the occasion, Atlus has released some striking new artwork from the series' immensely talented character designer, Shigenori Soejima. You can find it at the top of this article.
It took a bit longer for Persona 5 to make its way West. It finally released outside of Japan around seven months later, on the 4th April 2017.
The wait wasn't easy, but it was worth it. Persona 5 received near universal acclaim from both critics and consumers, and went on to spawn the even better Persona 5 Royal in 2019. We gave both games a 10/10 review score, and regular readers will know how rare that is.
It's also worth noting that Atlus has big Persona-related announcements coming up soon. The first is supposed to be dropping later this month, so keep an eye out.
Have you played Persona 5? Wish Joker and the gang a happy birthday in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 31
Happy birthday Persona 5!
Five years, holy crap. If Persona was churned out trash like FIFA, we'd be on Persona 10 by now. Hopefully we'll hear about a new game soon, though. I do have my doubts it'll launch as a PlayStation exclusive now, given how badly Sony are doing in Japan compared to Nintendo, and given how Persona games are never technical powerhouses, so would work fine on the Switch.
I refuse to believe this game is 5 years old
Huh, good timing. I started playing Royal about two hours ago. The length is daunting but I have heard good things.
Atlus takes their time, but the games end up being worth it. Only a couple of months until SMT V releases on Switch. I'm so excited!
@Matroska Persona games sell well in Japan regardless of Sony's broader struggles with that market.
Anyway, seems like Atlus is keeping Persona Playstation-exclusive. I think we would have seen P5 on other consoles by now if they had any intention of branching out.
Can't say enough of this game...very proud to have played over 150 hours.
One of my favourote games of all time - and Royal took it to a whole new level. Hopefully this month's announcement is a ps4/5 version of P4 Golden
@Matroska more and more of those big/middle Japanese gaming companies like Atlus/Sega, Bandai Namco, etc. are putting a lot more (and I mean a lot more) emphasis in the western market nowadays, even more than Japan in some cases (more money to gain out there in the console space than in their own home country).
Switch doing better in Japan doesn't mean anything when it comes to Persona console exclusivity because of that... Also, like someone already stated, the new game will sell great in Japan when it launches regardless...
Still need to play Royal but I absolutely loved the base game. 3, 4 and 5 are all very very good games.
This is one of those timeless masterpieces that will still be talked about in 20 years.
For me they are both 10/10 as well 😄 As much I love the characters I think they should have a well deserve retirement (they can continue in Anime form). I can't wait to see the new crew of Persona 6!
@Juanalf No, there needs to be a Persona 5 fighting game made by Arcsys, then they can rest.
And yet Persona 6 still hasn't been announced. Absolute brilliant game and Atlus can take all the time they need.
Well don't take too long. Already feels a bit creepy to play high school simulator in my mid 30s.....really not sure how I'll feel about it when I'm in my 50s.
Love the style of this game. Finished P5 and I find it very satisfying. Still finishing Royal and Strikers though. Anyway, I think it's about time we move forward from P5 and get to P6 soon
@Matroska True but we don't know if behind the scenes sony is paying for the Persona series as Nintendo is probably doing for Shin Megami Tensei 😂😂😂 Royale and the new SMT could be on pc easely if we are talking about money but they aren't.
Very nice - Happy BD!
One of my favorite jRpgs. Hoping for P6 on PS5. If there is a game worth playing the best possible way it is Persona.
The Art is just fantastic.
Persona 5 is probably my favorite game of all time so I'm happy for all the success it makes
Sheesh where has the time gone. It only seems like 5 minutes ago it launched.
@bimboliquido I would buy Strikers personally but that said it depends on what you prefer as an individual. Action or Survival Horror.
@Matroska
Maybe Xbox will pay them a billion or two for Persona 6 to be gamepass exclusive.
5 years! Maybe it deserves a big party and keep dancing all night but I think Joker must be tired, let’s go to sleep
Five years?! ....ugh. turns into dust
Happy 5th anniversary to Persona 5! I still need to beat Royal but remember having alot of fun.
I may have been late to the Persona party, playing Persona 5 late 2019 and beating it early 2020. I loved it to bits. Happy 5th.
A huge release for me. I'd kind of fallen out of love with JRPGS throughout the PS3 Era but decided to give Persona 5 a shot out of the blue really. I was not ready for how great the game was. I loved it so much it reignited my love for JRPGS to the point that I went back and played Persona 3 and 4 as well. I still plan to play 1 and 2 at some point too and it also got me into the Trails series which I'm still working my way through all of them. (Can't wait for the Crossbell games!)
Unquestionably the best game I played last generation and looking forward to SMTV in November. Happy birthday Phantom Thieves!
Persona 5 Royal is the highest rated PS4 game on Metacritic. Japan does it best
@bimboliquido
I've only played Strikers of those games you listed so I can't comment on the other two but if your looking for bang for your buck Strikers will keep you occupied for a while. It's not as long as Persona 5/Royal proper but still a pretty lengthy game I think I clocked in around 70 hours or so.
Edit: I didn't see Jedi at first and I played that one.. Also a good game but again not as long as Strikers.
Man even if Atlus announces Persona 6, they might really need to start mixing things up. While the school sim/dungeon RPG aspect was a novel idea and refined further with subsequent entries, I have to admit that it was starting to wear on me by the end of the adventure in 5. Not sure what they could do to shake things up while pleasing dedicated fans but here's hoping they've got big plans for the series.
The original Persona 5 was a tremendous disappointment for me, since Persona 4 is my favorite game.
Persona 5 Royal is amazing and absolutely worth all the accolades, though.
I'm currently playing the unroyal version on PS3 - it's great! Planning to play the royal version sometime in retirement.
What is the need to constantly praise Persona 5 here. It is baby's first JRPG and has one of the most pretentious stories I've ever seen in a video game.
Not to mention essentially giving a full price rerelease like Royal a 10/10 but calling Sonic Colors Ultimate Edition a 6/10
SMT III meanwhile barely gets love despite having a more mature evolved story and gameplay that doesn't hold your hand.
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