The Velvet Analysis

The inaugural entry of the beloved Persona series, known originally as Megami Ibunroku Persona, drew heavily from Shin Megami Tensei in terms of its gameplay. However, instead of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo where demons and gods have taken over reality, Persona started its roots by choosing to focus on Jungian psychology, heavily emphasizing its human characters and their psychological…

The protagonist of Metaphor: ReFantazio, known officially as Will, follows a journey that mirrors both the Fool Arcana archetype shared by Hashino’s three Persona protagonists: Makoto Yuki, Yu Narukami, and Ren Amamiya, and the classical Hero’s Journey formula, as Metaphor is akin to a fantasy RPG story. The Hero’s Journey is a powerful, universal storytelling structure conceived by Joseph…

Persona 3 Reload and Persona 4 Revival, two modernized remakes of the long-time classics Persona 3 and Persona 4, introduce special battle mechanics that unleash the ultimate power of a Persona User’s Persona. Modeled after the Magatsuhi mechanic in Shin Megami Tensei V and its updated rerelease, Vengeance, Persona 3 Reload and Persona 4 Revival introduce Theurgy and Prime Time, respectively, in…

In modern times, leading up to the highly anticipated release of Persona 6, Persona 3 and Persona 4 both received modernized, updated remakes incorporating gameplay and user interface elements from the popular Persona 5: Persona 3 Reload and Persona 4 Revival. Both of them lean heavily into Persona 5’s UI style, but do an excellent job of emphasizing their themes in their respective spins on…

In the most recent Xbox Games Showcase, aired on June 7, 2026, Atlus and SEGA, as part of their long-term partnership with Microsoft and Xbox, revealed the long-anticipated next entry in the beloved Persona series: Persona 6. Set to release after the release of the upcoming Persona 4 remake, known as Persona 4 Revival, Persona 6 brings much excitement to old and new fans of the Persona series…

Two well-known figures in Greek mythology are the twin warriors Castor and Pollux. Due to the unusual circumstances of their births, sharing a mother but born of different fathers, Castor, the son of the mortal Spartan King Tyndareus, was mortal, whereas Pollux, the son of Zeus, was an immortal demigod. Castor was ultimately slain, being pierced by a bow, and Pollux, in his grief and heartbreak,…

Perhaps one of the most well-known stories of all is the story known as “Beauty and the Beast”. It chronicles Beauty, the most beloved daughter of a man, and Beast, a seemingly abominable beast who turns out to be a handsome prince, placed under a curse until someone could love him for who he truly was. The story is also deeply Jungian, as it embodies crucial concepts of the shadow, anima, and…

One of the most well-known examples of the classic hero myth is the Winnebago Hero Cycle, prevalent in Native American Mythology. The classic hero cycle of the Winnebago myth has four stages: The Trickster, the Hare, the Red Horn, and the Twins. The Trickster disrupts rigid higher order before higher consciousness emerges, The Hare mediates instinct with society, The Red Horn confronts truths and…

Persona 3 and Persona 4 are well known for their settings in a contemporary high school in Japan. However, while high school is a hallmark setting of the Persona series due to adolescence being a key point of self-discovery, Persona 3 and Persona 4 in particular utilize the contrasting settings of a private school and a public school in different environments, showcasing the different lifestyles…

In Japanese mythology, one of the key stories prevalent within it is the creation myth featuring the creator deities of Izanagi and Izanami, the tale of the two forging islands of Japan, and stirring the primordial oceans, as chronicled in the Kojiki. Upon the birth of Kagutsuchi, the fire god, Izanami died, and in an attempt to retrieve her, Izanagi descended into the underworld of Yomi, where…

In the book “Man and His Symbols”, Joseph L. Henderson, a pupil of Carl G. Jung and a pioneering Jungian psychologist, discusses the tales of Orpheus and Christ, known as the “Son of Man”. From a Jungian standpoint, the mythologies and religions surrounding these two are in contrast yet interconnected, embodying archetypes that mediate between humans, nature, and the divine, offering hope of a…

In Persona 3 and Persona 4, the first two games of Katsura Hashino’s era of the Persona series, the calendar system not only emphasizes the passage of time but also the cycles of natural phenomena. Persona 3 bases its significant events on moon cycles, culminating in each full moon, while Persona 4 uses the weather: certain patterns of weather create deadlines by which confrontation must occur…

Most fantasy RPGs act as an escapist fantasy, leaving the modern world behind in medieval, fantastical worlds. Persona, however, takes place in contemporary society itself, akin to our own world, and in doing so forces players to confront reality itself, asking an uncomfortable question: what if our modern world itself is psychologically broken? The Persona series draws heavily from the work of…

In the modern Persona games, the Persona Users of the groups summon their Personas through dramatic, often painful means. These range from shattering a tarot card to shooting oneself in the head with a metaphorical tool to tearing off a mask. These methods, as gruesome as they can look, are not merely painful-looking for the sake of it: they represent a brutal confrontation with painful truths…

Every Persona protagonist begins as The Fool: undefined, incomplete, and full of potential. But what does it actually mean to finish that journey? In Jungian psychology, that answer is individuation: the realization of the Self. In Persona, that realization takes form as The World, or perhaps The Universe. Jungian Individuation: What is it? In Jungian psychology, in the psychological journey of…

In Persona, the “bad endings” of the stories don’t represent the victory of evil over good. Rather, they represent a consequence of something far more disturbing: the moment the protagonists stop caring. When you think of a “bad ending” in a story, you’d think of an actual living antagonist claiming a tangible victory over the protagonist, or the protagonist exhibiting a moral failure and…

While all Persona games center around a group of characters, the modern trilogy, under the direction of Katsura Hashino, centers around the central Wild Card, who undergoes the Fool’s Journey. The Fool Arcana, as the 0th Arcana, represents infinite possibility and limitless potential. Those who are in search of themselves are “no one” as long as the search continues, and have the ability to…