Persona 5

Persona 5 is a role-playing video game where the player takes on the role of a male high school student, codenamed Joker, who lives out a single year while attending school in modern-day Tokyo. The game is governed by a day-night cycle and weather systems that determine general behavior, similar to a social simulation game. The year is punctuated by scripted and random events as Joker attends school, and outside of school he can have part-time jobs, pursue leisure activities, or create items for use in dungeons or in battle. Joker's activities in the real world affect his social statistics; increasing these values grants additional activities and options.

When in the real world, Joker can develop character relationships known as "Confidants"; an evolution of the "Social Link" system from Persona 3 and Persona 4. With this system, he can converse with and improve his relationship with other characters he meets, with some leading to possible romances. Improving Confidant ranks with party members unlocks various abilities for use in combat. Improving ranks with non-party Confidants grants other bonuses, such as access to new equipment or boosting experience point gains.

Persona 5 takes place within the Persona universe, revolving around a group of high school students who harness Personas, physical manifestations of their inner psyche. The story begins on April 9 "20XX (2016)" and spans roughly a year. It is set in modern-day Tokyo and features several real-world locations, including Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya. A major setting throughout the game is Shujin Academy, a high school that the protagonist attends.

The second major location is the "Metaverse", a supernatural realm consisting of the physical manifestations of humanity's subconscious desires. In the Metaverse, people with corrupted desires form their own unique "Palace," which is modeled after their distorted perception of a place in the real world, along with a Shadow version of themselves (their true self) possessing a "Treasure" symbolic of their desires. Returning from earlier entries is the Velvet Room, a place that exists for the growth of Persona users and shifts appearance depending on the current guest; in Persona 5, it takes the form of a prison.

The game was developed by P-Studio, an internal development studio within Atlus dedicated to handling the Persona series. Preparatory development began in 2008 following the release of Persona 4, with full development beginning following the release of Catherine in 2011. Development lasted five years. Series director Katsura Hashino was only fully involved in development after Catherine was finished, later calling the latter game a test for the next Persona game's development.

Persona 5 would be Hashino's last game in the series as the leader of P-Studio, as he would afterwards form a separate internal team called Studio Zero. When production started, the staff consisted of around 40 people. During full production, this number expanded to 70 with 15 planners, 15 programmers, and between 30 and 45 designers. These included lead designer Naoya Maeda, who had previously done modeling work for the Trauma Center series.

Persona 5 received "universal acclaim" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Famitsu gave it a positive review, with the game garnering a near-perfect score. PlayStation Official Magazine – UK described it as "an unabashed masterpiece". IGN's Andrew Goldfarb said Persona 5 "stands out as an extraordinary, memorable experience and easily one of the deepest JRPGs of the last decade".

RPGamer said that "With Persona 5, Atlus has once again proven that it is the master of the modern JRPG. ". The game's graphical style and art direction also received significant praise.

Since its release, Persona 5 has been regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time, and one of the greatest games of all time. Writing for Nerdist in 2017, Edwin Garcia opined that the game was "one of the best RPGs of the past few years" and asserted that it "belongs amongst the greatest of all time." Alex Donaldson of VG247 likened the game to other esteemed RPGs such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII, and stated that it hearkened back to the genre's golden age. Citing it as "one of the best RPGs in recent memory" in a 2023 Inverse article, critic Willa Rowe claimed Persona 5 was the best heist game, praising the dungeon design's emphasis on heist planning and execution.

Journalists noted its influence on games such as Atlus' own Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) and Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025). Sandfall's lead director Guillaume Broche and Japanese game designer Masahiro Sakurai both praised the game's stylish UI design as among their favorite.