Since Persona 5 released in Japan in September 2016, we have seen its upgraded and expanded version in Persona 5 Golden, a direct sequel in Persona 5 Strikers, and even spin-offs like Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth. More recently, Persona 5‘s Tae Takemi became Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaey’s obsession. In addition to serving as a fruitful source of media products, one of Persona 5‘s most important contributions was the more mature view of the world it brought to the series.
Persona 5 didn’t revolutionize the formula Atlus had been working on since Persona 3, but it elevated the series’ identity to its peak. The fifth main entry in the Shin Megami Tensei spin-off included the now-familiar calendar and social systems, followed by the traditional turn-based combat and social links featured in the previous two games. In Persona 5, these have been enhanced with more complex dungeons and better quality-of-life features. All of that, wrapped in a sleek, modern visual identity and melancholic jazz songs, made this game a singular one. However, Persona 5 showed not only Atlus’s technological evolution, but its artistic and intellectual growth.
Since the Persona series’ inception, Atlus has been interested in discussing human society and identity. Persona 3 centers on the existential dread of facing mortality and chasing meaning in life. To tackle these heavy themes — that even the brighter version of the game one finds in Persona 3 Reload couldn’t tone down —- Atlus made characters deal, in one way or another, with death. Years later, in Persona 4, as characters investigate the murderers taking place in Inaba, they also must come to terms with their shadows, the embodiments of their most private thoughts and feelings that they desperately want to hide.
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