Persona 5

 PlayStation 4
Persona 5 Image
Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 98 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5569 Ratings

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  • Summary: Beneath the veneer of typical urban high school life, a group of teenagers mask their mysterious alter egos, their "phantom thief" side. Who are they? Why are they dressed as such? What are their motives? And... why are they being pursued? A picaresque coming-of-age story, Persona 5 brings aBeneath the veneer of typical urban high school life, a group of teenagers mask their mysterious alter egos, their "phantom thief" side. Who are they? Why are they dressed as such? What are their motives? And... why are they being pursued? A picaresque coming-of-age story, Persona 5 brings a new twist to the RPG genre. Assume the role of a second-year high school student who becomes a Persona-user through an unexpected incident. Having moved to Tokyo just before the start of the school year, he finds residence at a cafe run by his parents' friend, and is about to get his first taste of school life in the big city. The protagonist seems quiet and well-mannered at first glance, but gives a completely different impression once he has donned his "phantom thief" guise. What is the motivation of his alter ego...? Arsene is the protagonist's initial Persona, characterized by a mask-like face and a pair of huge, black wings. Some suspect an association between its name and the famous gentleman-thief, Arsene Lupin. What is the origin of this Persona, and what power does it hold? This is an account of the wild adventures experienced by a team of young misfits, who grow dramatically along the way. While attending Shujin High School, the protagonist will encounter a number of individuals, each with his or her own distinctive personality and charm. School life in the city is full of surprises and interesting events! It will most definitely be a fun year for the protagonist, living as an ordinary student. However, he and his friends become involved in an incident which leads to the awakening of their Personas. No one would ever suspect that these adolescents will eventually shake the world... Welcome to the next iteration of the Persona series, boasting a brand new metropolitan setting, all-new cast, and fresh, original story. [Atlus]
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Persona 5: Introducing the Phantom Thieves’ Hacker, Futaba Sakura!

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 97 out of 98
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 98
  3. Negative: 0 out of 98
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    May 15, 2017
    100
    The brilliant Japanese RPG, which nails you to your chair for a hundred hours, and you still feel it's not enough. Finally, the whole world will learn about the exceptionality of this series. [Issue#274]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. Gameblog.fr
    Mar 29, 2017
    100
    Girls and boys, Persona 5 is simply the new king of Japanese role playing games, and it may even be 2016's game of the year. The story is so deep, the battle system is so well-executed, the art direction is so amazing and the music is so groovy! I instantly felt in love with this game and I am pretty sure you will too.
  3. GamesBeat
    Mar 29, 2017
    97
    Persona 5 is full of style and confidence. Persona 5 knows that it's special, and you'll soon know it, too.
  4. The Games Machine
    Mar 29, 2017
    92
    The last chapter of one of our favourite series improved over the previous chapters in every, possible way. The storyline is unique and much more consistent, and the production values (art direction, soundtrack, dubbing, graphics) are simply top-notch. The fact that the dungeons aren't randomly generated anymore is just the cherry on top.
  5. Slant Magazine
    May 2, 2017
    90
    Its Atlus's watershed moment—which is to say, the moment they allowed the Persona series to truly grow up and earn that “M for Mature” rating.
  6. Attack of the Fanboy
    Apr 3, 2017
    90
    It’s a spectacular RPG experience that is truly in a league of its own, and fans of the series and the genre in general owe it to themselves to check it out.
  7. GameCritics
    Jun 12, 2017
    65
    Persona 5 is periodically fascinating, but it’s unable to maintain the required level of interest and energy over such an extended running time. If it were half as long and cut out most of the repetition, it’d be a much tighter, more enjoyable experience. As it stands, adventuring with the Phantom Thieves sags way too often to be a heartfelt recommendation.

See all 106 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 973 out of 1123
  2. Mixed: 76 out of 1123
  3. Negative: 74 out of 1123
  1. vincenzo123
    May 29, 2019
    10
    If you are a JRPG fan, and a follower of shin mengami tensei series, this is totally a must buy.

    Gameplay : 9.6 Storytelling : 9.5    If you are a JRPG fan, and a follower of shin mengami tensei series, this is totally a must buy.

    Gameplay : 9.6

    Storytelling : 9.5

    Soundtrack : 9.2    … Expand
  2. Dyne
    Apr 4, 2017
    10
    Nowhere near done but truly one of the best jrpg's ive ever played. Perfectly executed. The art style the combat everything is so engrossing.Nowhere near done but truly one of the best jrpg's ive ever played. Perfectly executed. The art style the combat everything is so engrossing. Top of the list for 2017 for sure.… Expand
  4. greninjaX
    Jul 21, 2020
    10
    oh hey look, it's joker from super smash bros ultimate. why isn't this game on the switch yet? do it you cowards.
  5. GameforGamers
    Jan 12, 2021
    10
    this is the best game ever made.
    this make any western rpg game look so generic
    10/10 a must play
  6. vahn
    Apr 9, 2017
    10
    I love Persona and most importantly of all, I love the Shin Megami Tensei series which itself has plentiful of great RPGs, such as DevilI love Persona and most importantly of all, I love the Shin Megami Tensei series which itself has plentiful of great RPGs, such as Devil Survivor, Digital Devil Saga, Strange Journey and my very first game, Lucifer's Call (or Nocturne). I'll be very biased but for good reasons!

    Case in point, why is Persona 5 good? Well let's start with the graphics - HOLD ON, I know you might think that graphics don't matter and I totally agree with you, however, Persona 5 has a unique style that makes the graphic stylish and very interesting to look at. The game's flashy, colorful, cel-shaded and incredibly well designed: the other game that just came to mind was persona 4 with its colorful environment, but persona 5 ramps it up to 11 and makes the game look beautiful, as well as stylish. I mean...just look at the intro, or at the choice option, at the menu screen: it reeks of "pop", something that reminds me of the 90s it's just incredible. Again, the only game that I felt this way was persona 4 and that game was already great in the visual ways.

    How's the gameplay? It's turn-based combat at its finest, a system that not many seem to like because "it's too old", but Persona 5 not only uses it yet again to show that it's still valid but improves it, expands it and includes elements from previous SMT such as the demon dialogues to recruit shadows and, most importantly of all, better and non-randomized dungeons (although the random dungeon still exists, it's just a sidequest). The combat controls are much more simplified and much faster too, making you switch persona on a whim, add the fact that the combat was simplified by removing "damage type" (there was slash, pierce and blunt) and also improving physical attacks (they do more damage than before and miss a lot less), the game really shines through with ease.

    Granted, I didn't enjoy how little the SP is and how quickly it runs out, and how hard it is to get items for recovering SP in general, but that's a nitpick at worst.

    And while I won't spoil the story, I honestly found it simple yet interesting, very interesting...to the point that "I just had to know what was going to happen". I kept wondering what was going to happen after the next dungeon was over and while the game hints with its flashback scenes - another nitpick because I highly despise flashbacks - I still wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters.
    Right the characters: I really love them, especially Morgana and how he's so sure of himself yet adorable at the same time. I won't lie: I didn't like Teddy in p4 for how "disgustingly" nice he was, but Morgana just felt more of a reliable character overall. The others are also pretty likable and very...relatable too: they're disliked by everyone, they're people who did big mistakes, they're people with difficult childhoods. In other words, they're misfits who struggle to get into the Japanese society and the MC has a criminal record too. It was very refreshing: unlike p4 and it's cheerful, the bright cast of super happy characters with no worries in their world, the p5 cast is yes cheerful and happy but has also to worry about their ranks and their place in society.
    And as someone who has a mentality far different from the country he currently lives in (I did live abroad for few years while younger), I can totally relate too.

    I want to add my nitpicks as well, with my biggest being them taking a lot from p4 in terms of time management: you can only go into the dungeon in the afternoon and do NOTHING at night "because you're tired", forcing you to plan far ahead of time. Doing the dungeon literally limits your daily routine in many ways: you can't study, you can't go out and do a bath, you can't create lockpicks (VERY needed), you can't even hang out with friends...nothing. So be ready to program your stuff!
    Secondly, the game map is very...confusing at first and I honestly got lost quite a lot before being able to quick travel to my locations. I guess it's because of the camera being free but I won't lie that I found myself wandering cluelessly for the first 10 hours.
    And third, the time for clearing dungeons is VERY SHORT: talking about 2 to 3 weeks tops and not only that, your time limit is shorter because you're supposed to do "something" BEFORE finishing the dungeon, which requires an additional day. Which means, DON'T REACH THE END ON YOUR LAST DAY, OR IT'S GAME OVER.

    And now for a bigger flaw: the game doesn't allow streaming and while it doesn't affect me, a friend of mine does and I thought to add this up for those who are hardcore streamers like her.

    With that said, go get this game if you miss the old JRPGs, those with turn based combat, great stories and rewarding system. It's not perfect by any means it sure is close to being it!    … Expand
  7. likedogwater123
    Dec 6, 2021
    9
    the Japanese again tried their best this game became popular even beyond the RPG community the first moments were similar to the four, butthe Japanese again tried their best this game became popular even beyond the RPG community the first moments were similar to the four, but simplified and sometimes even improved Persians are good as in the previous parts I advise you to get familiar with the game from this part, because persona 3 is an old four for advanced players and a five just for beginners… Expand
  8. Bloomball
    Jan 13, 2021
    0
    I generally don’t like this genre. I disliked this game even more than other RPGs. I won’t spoil anything here just in case you want to enjoyI generally don’t like this genre. I disliked this game even more than other RPGs. I won’t spoil anything here just in case you want to enjoy the game but it’s just my opinion.… Expand

See all 1123 User Reviews

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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS4 Game of 2017
4
#4 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2017
2
#2 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2017