Persona 25th anniversary site teases seven project announcements

By DeAngelo Epps Published July 13, 2021

Atlus’ hit RPG series Persona has been around for 25 years now. To celebrate, the developer is teasing seven announcements on Persona’s 25th-anniversary website.

Persona went from being a simple spinoff of Atlus’original flagship JRPG Shin Megami Tensei to the front runner of the company itself. The series has just come off of its most successful project yet in Persona 5 and is already looking toward the future.

Promo art for the 25th anniversary of the Persona franchise. — Sega

Atlus revealed via Twitter that it has Persona news, events, and more in store coming for the occasion. These announcements will be shared throughout the next year, with the final one unveiled in fall 2022.

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It’s very likely that one of these announcements could indeed be Persona 6. Atlus reports that it’s looking into the development of the latest title of the series already. It also states that the task of topping Persona 5 is already bringing out some nerves. “When we created Persona 4, there was pressure that it had to exceed Persona 3. Now, we will have to create a 6 [that] exceeds 5.”

While it’s not clear at all what the other reveals can be, looking at current trends in gaming and the past of Persona may give off a few hints. For instance, one of these announcements could well be a concert experience or music compilation celebrating Persona’s well-received soundtracks.

Another announcement that many have been clamoring for is a new installment of the fighting game spinoff by Arc System Works, Persona 4 Arena. Developers have recently released the successful Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive. It has also explored the world of Persona once again in BlazBlue Crosstag Battle. It’s possible that a Persona 5 Arena could be on the horizon to hold fans off until a new main title releases.

The speculation is endless, especially for a company as well-versed in the world of merchandising as Atlus. Figures, music, spinoffs — it’s all very possible. However, all we can do is wait for the announcements to actually begin, with the first coming this September.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

De'Angelo Epps is a gaming writer passionate about the culture, communities, and industry surrounding gaming. His work ranges…

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Gaming

Best skills to get in Persona 5 Tactica

Erina holding flag of freedom in Persona 5 Tactica

The Persona series has always treated skills in a unique way. While different from its JRPG older sibling, Persona 5 Tactica takes a slightly more traditional approach to how you will get new skills and abilities. Instead of being tied exclusively to leveling up and fusing your Persona together, this time each of your characters has their own skill trees that you work through. The trees themselves are broken into various categories, including elemental moves, passive buffs, and A Rebellious Resolve that impacts HP, SP, and movement. These trees aren't too complex, but GP doesn't come so easy in the early game, and plotting out your path is just another part of the tactical experience you need to master. Here are the best skills to get in Persona 5 Tactica that your enemies will never see coming.
Best skills to unlock

While each character's skill tree is unique in the sense that the branches have different names, the way they function is similar (except for Futaba). The only real difference is what element you're upgrading for each character's specific Persona. Remember that you can always respec your character if you want to rebuild them for a stronger set of skills.
Soul Repose
Every character needs Soul Repose, and it's almost nonnegotiable. Just like in the mainline games, SP, or your mana, is always at a premium. This is required to use any of your Persona powers, which are by far the most lethal moves you have. Being a limited resource, you will be forced to pick and choose when you can afford to spend it as it won't come back for free. Soul Repose alleviates that somewhat by restoring a bit of your SP when that character is in cover.
Elemental boosts and Single-target elemental attacks
Now that you don't have to worry as much about casting spells, it's time to buff them. Simply increasing your Persona's elemental strength is great, but we would also suggest focusing on the single-target version of their attacks as opposed to ones that can hit multiple targets. These are stronger, but also actually can hit more than one target if they're close enough. Plus, you'll be glad for the increased damage on a single unit when facing the bosses.
Healing
Also in the main Persona tree are the healing moves. Depending on the character, you will either start with a single- or multi-target healing move and then upgrade to a stronger version that almost always also becomes multi-target. Once you know who you want your healer to be, get them going down this branch first.
Everything for Futaba

Gaming

Persona 5 Tactica is making the tactics genre more approachable than ever

Gameplay from Persona 5 Tactica

After being a beloved series in the RPG community for almost 15 years, Persona 5 finally launched the wider Persona franchise into the mainstream in 2017 thanks to its over-the-top, slick, and stylish presentation. Since then, developer Atlus has tastefully built off that success. We’ve received an updated version of Persona 5 with its Royal edition, Joker joined the fight in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and the Phantom Thieves starred in a variety of spinoffs that dipped into the action-RPG and rhythm game genres. Now, the Persona 5 crew is taking on the tactics genre in the fittingly titled Persona 5 Tactica.

While my PAX West demo of Persona 5 Tactica was brief and did not contain any story content, it still showed me how the strategy game is making itself approachable for casual players in a way that’s not so different from what Persona 5 did for RPGs so many years ago.
New genre, same strategy
I love tactics games, but I’m admittedly not very good at them. I almost always enjoy a good challenge, but the genre tends to be heavy on complex management that can leave me overthinking every choice. Battles can be long and slow too, so if I end up losing, I feel like I lost a lot of time. That said, I love the strategy behind many tactics games, which usually lets me push past that friction.

Gaming

You saw it coming: Persona 3 and Persona 5 Tactica officially revealed

Persona 3 Reload

Atlus revealed Persona 3 Reload, a remake of the 2006 Persona 3 game, as well as Persona 5 Tactica, a strategy game title, during the Xbox Games Showcase.

The former is set for an early 2024 release, while the latter will launch on November 17. Both games will be included in Xbox Game Pass. Persona 3 Reload is a full remake in the style of Persona 5, while Persona 5 Tactica is a tactics-like game with Chibi-like cartoon graphics similar to the Persona Q and Q2 games released for Nintendo 3DS.