The Persona series has received a lot of attention this year, first with ports of Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden to modern platforms, and most recently the announcement of the mobile title Persona 5: The Phantom X, also known as Persona: Phantom of the Night. Although many fans have been eagerly awaiting the announcement of a new mainline Persona game, a solid-looking new mobile title could be exciting enough to tide fans over in the meantime. While Persona 5: The Phantom X has so far only been announced for release in China, it could see a release in other countries in the future.
It's clear Persona 5: The Phantom X isn't meant to serve as a replacement for Persona 6, as it advertises itself as a free-to-play mobile title which likely means it will include some form of gacha mechanics. However, from what has been shown of the game, it looks like it will faithfully adapt the core gameplay loop of Persona 5 to mobile devices. While it's not yet known how deep free-to-play content will run for this game, the gameplay shown so far has been promising, and a worldwide release would likely draw interest from series fans.
Everything Known About Persona 5: The Phantom X So Far
First announced in April 2021 under the working title Code Name: X, Persona 5: The Phantom X takes a lot of familiar faces and features from the original Persona 5 game and adds in a variety of new characters and content. The game looks to be set in Tokyo like the original Persona 5, but it will feature a new protagonist who is a second year student at Kiba Academy. Along with this new protagonist, the characters Suwa Arai and Luffy have also been revealed. Suwa is a fellow second year student and classmate of the protagonist, but Luffy is an anthropomorphic owl-like creature similar to Morgana.
The game also features Palaces like those of the original Persona 5, along with Mementos, where Luffy appears to be able to turn into a car much like Morgana could. A brand-new Palace with a baseball theme was also shown in the reveal trailer for Persona 5: The Phantom X, suggesting one of the antagonists of the game will be a baseball player. In addition to these dungeons, a handful of other activities seem to be returning from the original game such as school attendance, fishing, and the batting cages.
Gameplay seems to remain the same as well, as the party members are each shown wielding Personas in battle against series staple enemies like Pyro Jack. The protagonist wields the Persona Janosik, while Suwa and Luffy wield Awilda and Rob Roy, respectively. Combat looks nearly identical to Persona 5, with players using their Personas to target enemy weaknesses in order to down them and gain a chance for another attack. Although Igor and the Velvet Room are shown, it's not clear yet if and how Persona fusion will play a role in this entry.
There are a handful of other returning characters in Persona 5: The Phantom X, such as airsoft shop owner Munehisa Iwai and the doctor Tae Takemi. One final tease from the trailer shows Persona 5 protagonist Joker make an appearance, which is a great sign for the fan service this game will likely contain, but poses questions as to how the Phantom Thieves will play into this game's plot. With play tests for the game beginning on March 29 in China, it's likely more information will be revealed soon and hopefully point towards a global release.
Persona 5: The Phantom X is currently in development for Mobile devices.