Persona (universe)

Persona (universe)
Developer(s)	Atlus P-Studio
Publisher(s)	Atlus
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Console/platform of origin	PlayStation
First installment	Revelations: Persona (1996)
Latest installment	Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth (2018)
Article on Wikipedia	Persona (universe)

Persona (ペルソナ, Persona) is a series of role-playing games developed by Atlus. A sub-series of the Megami Tensei franchise, the games blend life simulation with dungeon crawling.

Franchise description

The Persona series began in 1996 as an experimental spin-off of the Megami Tensei series of RPGs. Departing from the traditional first-person gameplay and post-apocalyptic setting of its parent series, Persona games take place in a modern metropolis and focus on a party of high school students, each wielding the power of "Personas". Personas are described as "masks to wear through everyday life", and bestow the user with a guardian entity which takes the form of a mythological figure and is capable of magic and other supernatural abilities. The games take heavy symbolism from Jungian psychology, as well as the tarot cards. Each game takes place in a separate locale and makes few direct references to its predecessor, though various Personas recur from game to game, as does the series' mainstay location "The Velvet Room" and its mysterious master Igor. Inevitably, the protagonists end up confronting the supernatural being responsible for the game's central conflict, and defeat them in combat in order to resolve it. More modern Persona games (Persona 3 and onward) place additional emphasis on "Social Links", a visual-novel like system where the player character converses with various NPCs, including their party members, and helps them through the struggles of their individual character arcs. In turn, the strengthened bonds of the Social Links grant the main character additional power, such as new Personas to wield or added inventory to shops.

Planning for Persona 5 began after the release of Persona 4, though full development did not officially begin until after the release of the puzzle game Catherine in 2011. The game’s development was handled by P-Studio, an internal team within Atlus who were responsible for the core Persona series and Catherine. One early concept for the game was to incorporate an action battle system with real time elements, not unlike the Xenoblade Chronicles series. However, doing this would have meant throwing out everything the studio had cultivated over the course of the series, so the idea was scrapped on the spot. Rather, the team would refine what they already have built on, such as the Persona fusion system, as well as bringing back concepts from earlier Persona titles such as the guns and Negotiation system.

The original scenario for the game was to emulate a backpacking journey around the world with a theme of self-discovery. However, just as the team began solidifying this direction, the catastrophic 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The aftermath of the disaster deeply affected director Katsura Hashino, who then decided to refocus the game’s scenario on Japan to follow their mindsets after such an event. From that point on, the scenario would instead focus on the “adventurous spirit of the human mind,” as Hashino put it, through the lense of the Japanese. To achieve this, the scenario adopted a more picaresque tone where the main characters were misfits and rebelled against the conventions of society armed only with their wits. This became the basis for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and “Social Links” were renamed to “Confidants.” The party’s starting Personas also reflect this change, as most of them are named after famous outlaws and criminals such as Arsène Lupin III, Zorro, William Kidd, Carmen, and Pope Joan.

The choice for the stylistic user interface for Persona 5 came from the picaresque direction to reflect the rebellious nature of the Phantom Thieves. This did not come easy, as the team had to continuously test and adjust the UI until it achieved a good balance between style and clarity. Many critics and fans took note of and praised this UI, saying it complemented the themes of rebellion well and calling the game “effortlessly stylish” because of it. After what amounted to a five-year development cycle, Persona 5 was released in September 2016 in Japan and April 2017 worldwide. The game went on to become Atlus’s single best-selling title in Japan in just three weeks (likely as a result of Square Enix delaying Final Fantasy XV, removing any competition from its release window), as well as the fastest selling Persona game ever internationally. Critics praised the evolution of the game’s mechanics and called it one of the best Japanese role-playing games of its generation and of all time.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

This page documents information about recently released content. Information may change rapidly as it becomes available. All information in this article must be verifiable.

The Persona franchise makes its Super Smash Bros. series debut as the first DLC franchise in the Fighters Pass. In addition to one newcomer, the series is represented by a stage, several character cameo appearances, 11 music tracks from across three games, four Mii Fighter costumes, and 11 Spirits. The series made its debut alongside the Version 3.0 update and its associated new content.

Character

• 71.
  
  Joker: The protagonist of Persona 5 debuts as the first newcomer from the Fighters Pass. In battle, he wields a knife and an airsoft gun, but the power of the Wild Card allows him to call upon multiple Personas to his aid. Chief among them is Arsene, his starting Persona whom, when Joker’s Rebellion Gauge is maxed out, will be unleashed and give his attacks a slight boost. Arsene cannot be damaged and will persist until the gauge runs out. Finally, his Final Smash calls upon the Phantom Thieves to catch any opponents in an All-Out Attack, capable of instantly KOing them at a certain percentage. He was released on April 17, 2019 alongside Mementos and its 11 music tracks and Spirits as part of Challenger Pack 1.

Stage

• Mementos: The psychedelic Metaverse subway station from Persona 5 where Morgana first revealed his ability to transform from a cat into a bus. This location is visited several times throughout Persona 5 and is the Metaverse parallel to the underground metro that the player uses to travel around Shibuya. The stage’s layout is mostly flat with a handful of platforms similar to Battlefield, but walls may close in from any of the blast zones and a train may come rushing through the bottom of the screen. The Morgana car will occasionally drop off familiar Phantom Thieves who will watch and react to the battle at play. Finally, the background colors will change depending on the music track concurrently playing; red for Persona 5 music, blue for Persona 3 music, and yellow for Persona 4 music.

Music

Original Tracks

Persona received three arrangements for Ultimate.

• "Beneath the Mask": An arrangement of the theme that plays in the Tokyo overworld at night in Persona 5.
• "I'll Face Myself": An arrangement that includes I'll Face Myself (Acceptance version) and features part of the melody of the game's end credits theme, "Never More". It plays when the Shadow Self is accepted in Persona 4.
• "Aria of the Soul": An arrangement of the Velvet Room theme present in every Persona title, debuting in Revelations: Persona.

Source Tracks

Tracks sourced directly from the Persona games.

• "Last Surprise": The main battle theme, sourced from Persona 5.
• "Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There": The opening theme, sourced from Persona 5.
• "Rivers in the Desert": The boss theme for the fights against Shadow Masayoshi Shido, the Holy Grail, and Caroline and Justine, sourced from Persona 5.
• "Our Beginning": The second phase of the final boss theme, sourced from Persona 5.
• "Reach Out to the Truth": The main battle theme, sourced from Persona 4.
• Time To Make History: The main battle theme, sourced from Persona 4 Golden.
• Mass Destruction: The main battle theme, sourced from Persona 3.
• Battle Hymn of the Soul: The penultimate boss theme, sourced from Persona 3.
• An instrumental version of "Life Will Change" was used in Joker's reveal trailer, as well as the track "The Spirit". However, neither of these tracks are in Ultimate.

Victory Fanfares

• "Victory! Joker (Persona 5)": The primary victory theme, sourced from Persona 5.
• "Victory! Joker (Persona 4)": The victory theme, sourced from Persona 4. Plays when Joker wins on Mementos when Persona 4 music is playing.
• "Victory! Joker (Persona 3)": The victory theme, sourced from Persona 3. Plays when Joker wins on Mementos when Persona 3 music is playing.

Mii Costumes

Hats

• Morgana Hat (DLC)
• Teddie Hat (DLC)
• Persona 3 Protagonist Wig (DLC)
• Persona 4 Protagonist Wig (DLC)

Costumes

• Persona 3 Protagonist Outfit (DLC)
• Persona 4 Protagonist Outfit (DLC)

Spirits

1304. Joker (Phantom Thief) 1305. Joker (Student) 1306. Phantom Thieves of Hearts 1307. Igor 1308. Caroline & Justine 1309. Morgana 1310. Ryuji Sakamoto

1311. Ann Takamaki 1312. Yusuke Kitagawa 1313. Makoto Niijima 1314. Futaba Sakura 1315. Haru Okumura 1316. Goro Akechi

Games with elements from or in the Super Smash Bros. series

Revelations: Persona

• Aria of the Soul, a recurring track throughout the series, debuted in this game and receives a remix in Ultimate.
• Igor, a recurring character in the series since the first installment, appears as a spirit.

Persona 3

• Mass Destruction and Battle Hymn of the Soul are both taken from this game.
• A Mii Costume based off of the main character from this game also appears.

Persona 4

• Reach Out To The Truth and I'll Face Myself are both taken from this game.
• A Mii Costume based off of the main character from this game is available, as well as a hat based on Teddie, the game's mascot.

Persona 4 Golden

• Time To Make History is taken from this updated version of Persona 4.

Persona 5

• Playable Characters:
  • Joker originates from this game. Morgana also appears as part of his taunts.
• Mii Costumes:
  • A Morgana Hat appears as headgear for Miis.
• Stages:
  • Mementos originates from this game.
• Music:
  • Last Surprise, Beneath the Mask, Wake Up, Get Up, Get Out There, Rivers In the Desert, and Our Beginning all originate from this game.
• Spirits:
  • The Phantom Thieves of Hearts (both in a group and individually), Caroline & Justine, and Igor all appear as DLC spirits.

Trivia

• Atlus is the second third-party company to be introduced to the Super Smash Bros. series as DLC, the first being Square Enix.
• The Megami Tensei series, from which the Persona series deviates, previously crossed over with the Fire Emblem series in Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE.
  • In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Tsubasa Oribe, as well as her "Carnage Form", a character from the crossover, appears as a Spirit.
  • In addition, Chrom and Marth, playable characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, appear in the crossover.
• Persona, EarthBound, and Final Fantasy are the only universes without playable characters from the first installment in their series in Super Smash Bros.
• Persona is the first third-party universe (with a playable character represented in Smash) that is a sub-series (as Persona deviates from the Megami Tensei franchise).
  • Persona is also the first sub-universe to not have its root universe featured in Smash.
• Following Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Bayonetta, and Castlevania, Persona is the fifth universe with a playable character to have games in its series be rated M by the ESRB.
• Persona is the first universe to introduce a new company in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as the copyright in Joker's reveal trailer mentions Atlus (although it is wholly owned by Sega, who is already represented in the game).