Persona has six main games, released between 1996 and 2016, and each one has its own cast and its own city. The numbers make it look like a saga you have to join at the beginning. It isn't. The modern games, Persona 3, 4 and 5, are separate stories that share a formula: a school year, a group of friends, and dungeons that run on psychology.
The short answer: you don't need to play Persona in order. Start with Persona 5 Royal if you want the most polished game, or Persona 3 Reload if you'd like to follow the modern trilogy as it was released. Persona 4 Golden is the cheap, cozy option, though a full remake called Persona 4 Revival arrives on February 18, 2027, so there's a case for waiting on that one. The two 1990s games are a different style and hard to buy; save them for later, if ever.
Persona games in order of release
These are the main games and their major re-releases. Years are first release, which means Japan.
| # | Game | Released | Original platform | Where to play it in late 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Revelations: Persona | 1996 | PlayStation | No current release (last reissued on PSP in 2009) |
| 2 | Persona 2: Innocent Sin | 1999 | PlayStation | No current release (PSP version, 2011) |
| 3 | Persona 2: Eternal Punishment | 2000 | PlayStation | No current release |
| 4 | Persona 3 | 2006 | PS2 | As Persona 3 Portable or Persona 3 Reload |
| 5 | Persona 4 | 2008 | PS2 | As Persona 4 Golden |
| 6 | Persona 3 Portable | 2009 | PSP | PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC |
| 7 | Persona 4 Golden | 2012 | PS Vita | PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC |
| 8 | Persona 5 | 2016 | PS3, PS4 | Play Persona 5 Royal instead |
| 9 | Persona 5 Royal | 2019 | PS4 | PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC |
| 10 | Persona 3 Reload (remake) | 2024 | PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC | Same, plus Switch 2 since October 23, 2025 |
| 11 | Persona 4 Revival (remake) | February 18, 2027 | PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC | Not out yet; Switch 2 version follows on May 20, 2027 |
| 12 | Persona 6 | No date | Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC | Not out yet |
The numbering trips people up because Persona 2 is two games. Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment are a pair, so Persona 3 is the fourth main game and Persona 5 is the sixth. Atlus counts Persona 6 as the seventh.
PS4, Xbox One and original Switch versions run on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2. Our backward compatibility guide has the details.
Do you need to play Persona in order?
No. Persona 3, 4 and 5 each introduce a new protagonist, a new group of friends and a new mystery. They take place in the same world and trade the occasional cameo or reference, and that's the extent of it. You can play 5, then 3, then 4, and lose nothing.
Two things are linked, and both are easy to manage.
- Persona 2 is a two-part story. If you do go back to it, play Innocent Sin before Eternal Punishment.
- Spin-offs come after their parent game. Persona 5 Strikers is a sequel to Persona 5. Persona 4 Arena follows Persona 3 and 4. Persona Q uses both casts. Each one assumes you've finished the main game and will spoil it if you haven't.
The remakes and re-releases are alternative versions, not extra entries. You only need one version of each game.
Which Persona game should I play first?
| If you want | Start with | Roughly how long |
|---|---|---|
| The most polished and stylish game | Persona 5 Royal | 100 hours or more |
| The modern trilogy in release order | Persona 3 Reload | About 70 hours |
| A small-town murder mystery on a budget | Persona 4 Golden | About 70 hours |
Persona 5 Royal, for most people
Persona 5 Royal is where the series became a worldwide hit. Wikipedia puts Persona 5 and Royal together at more than 11.8 million copies sold by June 2026, the best-selling game in the wider Megami Tensei family. You play a high school student in Tokyo who leads a group of thieves into the minds of corrupt adults, and every menu, transition and battle screen is designed within an inch of its life. Royal is the expanded edition with an extra semester and a new character. It's on every current platform, and there's no reason to buy the original Persona 5 now.
The catch is the length. A hundred hours is a real commitment, and the opening stretch holds your hand for a long time. If that worries you, read our piece on whether video games are too long, then consider Persona 3 Reload, which is shorter.
Persona 3 Reload, if you want to go in order
Persona 3 is the game that invented the formula: go to class by day, build friendships after school, and climb a tower called Tartarus at night. Reload rebuilds the 2006 game with the look and comforts of Persona 5. It sold a million copies in its first week, the fastest in the series, and reached Switch 2 on October 23, 2025.
It's darker than the others. The story is about mortality, and it doesn't blink. It's also the most direct of the three, with one main dungeon and less padding.
Persona 4 Golden, or wait for Revival?
Persona 4 moves to a rural town called Inaba, where a group of friends investigates a string of murders tied to a strange TV channel. It's the warmest game of the three, and Golden costs $19.99 on Steam.
Persona 4 Revival, announced in June 2025, is a full remake of Golden in the style of Reload. It comes to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on February 18, 2027, and to Switch 2 on May 20. If Persona 4 is the one you're most curious about and you can wait three months, wait. If you want to play something now, Golden still holds up, and its PS2-era look has its own charm.
Persona 3 Reload, Portable or FES: which version should you play?
Persona 3 has four versions, which is three too many.
- Persona 3 Reload (2024) is the full remake and the one to play. It doesn't include the female protagonist route from Portable. The epilogue, known as The Answer, was added afterward as paid DLC called Episode Aigis.
- Persona 3 Portable (2009, re-released 2023) is the only version where you can choose a female protagonist, which changes many of the friendships. It tells much of its story through static scenes instead of animated ones. It's worth a second playthrough for fans.
- Persona 3 FES (2007) is the PS2 expanded edition and isn't sold on current platforms.
- Persona 3 (2006) is the PS2 original.
For Persona 4, Golden replaces the PS2 original. For Persona 5, Royal replaces the original. It's the same remake-or-original question we cover in why there are so many video game remakes, and here the newer version wins each time.
What about Persona 1 and 2?
Revelations: Persona and the two Persona 2 games are from the PlayStation era, before the series added the school calendar and friendship system. They're slower, stranger dungeon crawlers with a devoted following, especially the Persona 2 pair.
They're also difficult to play legally. None of the three is sold on a current console or on PC. The first game and Innocent Sin were last reissued on PSP, and Eternal Punishment's PSP version never left Japan. Until Atlus re-releases them, treat them as optional history.
Which Persona spin-offs are worth playing?
Play these only after the main game they're attached to.
- Persona 5 Strikers (2020 in Japan, 2021 worldwide; Switch, PS4, PC). An action RPG set half a year after Persona 5. It's a true sequel with the full cast, and the best of the spin-offs.
- Persona 5 Tactica (2023; all current platforms). A grid-based strategy game set during Persona 5. If you like the genre, our tactics RPG beginner's guide covers the basics.
- Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (2013). A fighting game that continues the stories of Persona 3 and 4.
- Persona Q and Q2 (2014 and 2018; Nintendo 3DS). Dungeon crawlers that bring the casts together.
- The Dancing games (2015 and 2018). Rhythm games for Persona 3, 4 and 5.
- Persona 5: The Phantom X (2025). A free-to-play spin-off with a new cast in the Persona 5 setting.
How does Persona relate to Shin Megami Tensei and Metaphor: ReFantazio?
Persona began as a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei, Atlus's long-running series about demons and the end of the world. The two share monsters and battle ideas, and you don't need one to play the other. Shin Megami Tensei is harder and colder, with little of the social side.
Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024) comes from Katsura Hashino, who directed Persona 3, 4 and 5, and plays like a fantasy cousin: a calendar, bonds with followers, turn-based battles, and no high school. It's on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, and a Switch 2 version is due on November 12, 2026. If you finish a Persona and want more of the feeling without the same setting, it's the obvious next stop.
What's next: Persona 4 Revival and Persona 6
Persona 4 Revival is the next release, on February 18, 2027. Persona 6 has been confirmed for Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, with a simultaneous worldwide release and no date. The series had sold more than 30 million copies by June 2026, and a live-action adaptation was reported to be in development that month. There's time to play one before the next one lands. Probably not all three.
These games ask for 70 to 100 hours each, usually spread over months, and it's easy to lose your place. In Perthro, you can log which version you played, on which platform, and how many hours it took, keep a note of where you stopped, and add Persona 4 Revival to your Interested list so February turns up in your release calendar. Our gaming journal page shows how a few lines per session keep a long RPG from blurring together.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Persona (franchise)
- Wikipedia: Revelations: Persona
- Wikipedia: Persona 2: Innocent Sin
- Wikipedia: Persona 3
- Wikipedia: Persona 3 Reload
- Wikipedia: Persona 4
- Wikipedia: Persona 4 Revival
- Wikipedia: Persona 5
- Wikipedia: Persona 5 Strikers
- Wikipedia: Persona 5 Tactica
- Wikipedia: Persona 5: The Phantom X
- Wikipedia: Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Wikipedia: Megami Tensei
- Steam: Persona 5 Royal
- Steam: Persona 3 Reload
- Steam: Persona 4 Golden
