Persona 5 is undoubtedly the most successful Persona game yet, and arguably launched the series into mainstream popularity with its flashy style and lovable characters. It’s no wonder that after Persona 5’s success in the West that Persona 3 and Persona 4 are both getting a resurgence as players want to check out previous games in the series. Building off that popularity, Persona: Phantom of the Night, or P5X, has been announced. It’s a spinoff mobile game with a new protagonist that will initially launch in China. No word yet if it’ll get a global release, but it’s possible.
The game is being developed by Perfect World Games and before you write it off, you might want to check out the two trailers that have been released. Persona: Phantom of the Night looks surprisingly well done, with all of Persona 5’s signature flashy style. A lot of the game looks very familiar if you’ve played Persona 5, minus the main characters of course. But it does look like the main cast will play a role in the mobile spinoff, based on some released imagery.
The game’s protagonist and his persona are designed by Shigenori Soejima himself, which is why it’s little surprise they fit right into the style of Persona 5. Gameplay looks to be just like other Persona games — being a student during the day and fighting battles with personas in the evening. It does appear to have turn-based combat too.
China has quickly become the go-to market for mobile gaming. Street Fighter: Duel, which recently released globally, also first debuted in China. Maybe Crunchyroll will also bring Persona: Phantom of the Night to the West like it did for Street Fighter: Duel. My only hope is that P5X isn’t a terrible, predatory gacha game because The Phantom Thieves would surely not approve. Ah, who am I kidding.
