Top 20 Best RPG Series of All Time

#17. – Shin Megami Tensei – Persona

# of Good Games in the Franchise: 3

Active: Yes

Persona began as a spin-off to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise and was one of the first games in the series localized for English speakers. It failed to make significant waves with its 2D graphics and grid based battle system. The second Persona was also released for the PS1 and went largely ignored. Persona 3 is where the series hit the prime time. On the PlayStation 2 it is considered one of the best RPGs for the platform, and 4 was even more popular. Persona 5 saw release on the PS3 and PS4. It continues the same dating/social link aspects and the battle system hasn’t been drastically changed.

I’m pretty late to the party with this series. I started with Persona 3 (which I like) and moved on to Persona 4 (which I love). I’ve tried to return to previous iterations in the franchise but I struggled. It’s not because of the first person dungeons (this is an aspect I love in most games) rather the battle system and story failed to grab me. The series wasn’t particularly enjoyable until the PlayStation 2 iterations, and this only continues on the PS4. There are a few faults holding it back. The anime motifs are a little overbearing, and the games are a bit too long for their own good. Still, few other games have ever managed to drag me into their world like these ones have.

The Best Way to Play:

The original Persona titles were remade for PSP and are playable on the PlayStation Vita with some good quality of life changes. If you must play the originals I fully recommend going with these versions. Bear in mind these are hardcore RPGs, and they aren’t particularly amazing. Persona 3 is fantastic and has been released on both the PS2 and PSP. These games are also playable on the PS3 (via the enhanced FES edition) and the Portable version (with it’s own enhancements and can be played on the Vita). Persona 4: Golden is available for both the PlayStation Vita and Steam so go for those version if you can. Persona 5 is on the PS3 and PS4.