Updated August 2026. Persona 4 Revival lands February 18, 2027.
** TL;DR: Play Persona 5 Royal if you have never touched the series. Play Persona 3 Reload if you already did or larped. Do not start Persona 4 Golden unless you refuse to wait until February.**
These are super long games, you’ll probably burn out if you try to binge them all before P4R. Pick one and commit.
The pick #
| If you… | Play this | Skip |
|---|---|---|
| Have never played Persona | Persona 5 Royal | Everything else |
| Watched a P5/R playthrough on youtube | Persona 3 Reload | Youtube Premium |
| Finished Royal, or bounced off it | Persona 3 Reload | P4G, P5R |
| Only care about Persona 4 | Wait for Revival | Golden, unless you need it RIGHT NOW |
| are weird about high school | Metaphor: ReFantazio |
All games are standalone. You will not miss anything other than a reference or two.
Never played Persona #
Start with Persona 5 Royal.
It is ATLUS’s Golden Boy, the one to chase, always on sale and shows you the ropes of the franchise. Also dungeons are hand made instead of procedually generated.
Switch 2 runs the old Switch version. It works. It is not a real Switch 2 port (so i’ve heard). PS5 / PC if you care. Steam Deck if you want it on the go. Personally I have it on the ROG Ally X which has been the GOAT.
Do not start with Persona 1 or 2. It’s tricky, I know, but they’re the oldest of the games, the translations are questionable at best and way different from what Persona 3 did to the franchise. (I’m sorry Maki)
If you are weirded out about the highschool life part, just skip to Metaphor Refantazio. Same studio brain, fantasy theme, cool UI too, it’ll be great.
Already played/larped Persona 5 #
Play Persona 3 Reload now. I wrote why.
Revival is due in six months. Reload is the darker one. There’s Switch 2 port, Episode Aigis DLC (skip this one), and you will actually have an opinion when people start arguing about which remake is better next year.
P3R is not as fancy as P5R, however a lot of inspiration was taken from P5 and P5R and in my opinion the UI is way cleaner than P5. And even worse the only “Palace” you’ll find in P3 is Tartarus which is one single tower with randomly generated floors and the theme changes sporadically. The story is what makes it good.
Buy the base game. Do not worry about Episode Aigis we pretend that doesn’t exist in this household.
The female protagonist route from Portable is not in Reload. There are community mod efforts to bring this back and even though I’m not up to date with it, a lot of progress seems to be done and it’s constantly being updated. I’ll probably jump in after I know it’s complete.
You only want Persona 4 #
Wait for Persona 4 Revival.
It is a remake of Golden, not the 2008 original. Marie is in it, you get some Persona 5 inspiration in it too. MAPPA is doing the animated cutscenes. It launches February 18, 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series, and PC. Day-one Game Pass. No Switch 2 version announced.
Golden is still a great game.
Buy Golden only if:
- It is under $10 and you need something tonight
- You already know you replay these
- You want the old experience.
Otherwise leave it. Play Reload. Play Metaphor. Touch grass. Play the funny space ninja game. Show up in February unspoiled.
Metaphor is a spin off of a spin off #
Metaphor: ReFantazio is what you play if you want Atlus combat and a calendar, and you do not want to go to school in a video game.
It is not Persona 6. It will not replace Revival. Switch 2 version is November 12, 2026. Everyone else already had it in 2024. I’m saving myself to play this later instead of larping so I don’t have a lot to say about it. I love the menus though.
It’s the elephant in the room that needed to be addressed.
Then, What to skip before February? #
- Persona 1 and 2. Different era, different systems, awful first-game experience in 2026.
- Persona 3 Base as your P3. Reload exists.
- Persona 4 Golden don’t spoil yourself!
- Persona 5 Strikers / Tactica / dancing games some of them are sequels or just not standalone.
- Q and Q2. I forgot these existed, you’ll be fine skipping.