Persona games coming to Xbox Game Pass this fall

I can’t tell you how excited I am to write this: To celebrate 25 years of the Persona series, Sega announced that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal are coming to Xbox Game Pass this fall. This is a huge deal for Persona fans, and for people who have been interested in the series but haven’t had the opportunity to play any of the games because of the limited ways to play.

The only game with an actual release date is Persona 5 Royal, which is coming to Xbox Game Pass on consoles and PC on Oct. 21 of this year. It will also be available for purchase on the Xbox Series consoles and Xbox One. Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden are coming “sometime in 2023.”

Persona 5 Royal is the extended, complete version of the base game. I played the base Persona 5 back in 2019 and it was honestly one of the best games I’ve ever played. I watched my friend James stream Royal on Twitch, and I can confidently say that Royal is the definitive version of the game. There is so much added content and story and it’s definitely the one you should play if you’ve never played Persona 5 before. 

I have never played Persona 3 or 4, but boy, have I wanted to! Persona 5 took me around 130 hours to complete, so the thought of starting another huge game like that really overwhelms me…but even if it takes me five years to complete them, I need to play 3 and 4. Persona 3 Portable is the version coming to Xbox/PC, and that is basically the “Royal” version of the base Persona 3 game. Until now, this game was only playable on the PlayStation Portable, and the original game was only on the PlayStation 2. And, you guessed it - Persona 4 Golden is the definitive version of the base Persona 4 game. Basically, there is no reason to play the base versions of these games now that the definitive versions are out. Since I haven’t played 3 or 4, here are the overviews of those games, directly from the press release on Xbox’s website:

Persona 3 Portable

 “If I say there’s an hour “hidden” between one day and the next… would you believe me? This unknown time is the “Dark Hour.” Unfamiliar stillness swallows the city, people turn into eerie coffins, and otherworldly monsters called Shadows swarm. One night, the protagonist is attacked by these Shadows. When all hope seems lost, the power of the heart, their Persona, is awakened.”

Persona 4 Golden

 “They say your soulmate will appear if you stare into a television set on a rainy night… This strange rumor slowly spreads through the rural town of Inaba, the protagonist’s new home, just as a chain of mysterious murders begin. As the protagonist and his teammates chase after the truth, they find themselves opening the door to another world.”

The basic premise of Persona 5 Royal is that you are a high school student who is forced to transfer to a new school in Tokyo, and you are immediately confused about what is happening; you have a really weird dream where you’re in a striped prison outfit, and you’re told by some strange man with a large nose that you need to be rehabilitated. You quickly find out that you’re tasked with basically saving society with the help of your new friends. It is a game that everyone who is even remotely interested in RPGs should absolutely play, and now people on Xbox and PC will be able to play it, and at no additional cost if they have a Game Pass subscription.

NOTE: It was announced right before press that Persona 5 Royal is coming to PlayStation 5 and Steam (PC) on the same date that it’s coming to Xbox consoles and PC. Persona 4 Golden is coming to PS4 (it’s already on Steam), and Persona 3 Portable is coming to PS4 and Steam. The more ways to play these games, the better! But, in this economy, Game Pass is going to be your best bet (just my two cents).