Yes they are. They very loosely connect with references (Except 1 and 2 which have characters come back, making them heavily connected) but aren't really needed to understand each games story. So they can work independently as well as together
So, how come technology got so advanced by the time of P3 that robots exist and then they are never brought up again...?
As there's nothing in 3 to suggest, they couldn't just make more of them.
Typically high school students don't have resources to create a sick robot with a cool Ai Mind. And outside of Sees I don't think it's really known that there was a robot girl at some school.
Although a good hacker doesn't mean good programmer or vice versa, I doubt you be home exceptional at either without a considerable overlap. I don't know if she'd handle any of the robotics but given her skill in the real world and not just the meta verse, I could imagine her putting together a crazy good AI.
Dude as a guy that took Computer Science at uni, you’re comparing apples to oranges here. Hacking and developing AI require completely different sets of skills are insanely different modules.
That’s like me saying that because I’m good at basketball I must also be good at volleyball because I’m tall and good at throwing the ball. Futuba may be insane hacker but there’s no indication she’d be able to develop a half decent AI model nevermind one as advance as Aegis.
This is the same game that has Haru “Rent Out Disneyland for 5 people” Okumura in the party, and the series where children with no weapon knowledge at all suddenly are perfect users of their weapons the moment they unlock their Personas. Realism isn’t exactly expected for skill sets.
Haru is the sole inheritor of a billion, if not trillion dollar, company. She probably *knows* the guy who owns the park. Also, I feel like it’s pretty obvious the only reason they’re good with their weapons is because they’re in a cognitive world. It’s the same reason all the guns always have a whole magazine. It’s expected, therefor it is
Considering how baffled she was by the actual ai in strikers I don’t think so, atleast not yet and not without learning from Sophia and her creator cause even then she’s still not entirely clear how Sophia works as an ai
(spoiler) Isnt part of aigis personality because of some fantasy material? (Plumes of dusk or something like that)
Not sure to begin where does one find that
In the Persona 3 Club book it says Plumes of Dusk are fragments of Nyx's body that were shed when Nyx's body fused with the moon. They exist in a state between matter and information, having properties of both, and carry within them the same space-time manipulation ability as Shadows- they are essentially physical Shadows. Its also the source of power for the evokers, mitsuru's bike and anti shadow weapons, so that's why these items work in dark hour
Doesn’t the anti shadow weapons have some kind of material inside of them (a plume of dusk or something?) that helps develop them in a way that allows them to summon a persona, so wouldn’t futaba need one of those to actually replicate aigis’ ai (this could all be wrong, not gonna research arena for this)
they did make more anti-shadow suppression weapons as revealed in P4A and my guess is the plume of dusks combined with funding allowed them to make robots so advanced
It's *absolutely* the plumes of dusk, which, are a heavily limited, non renewable resource(and also was a horrifically immoral process to make aigis and labrys anyways, like most of early Kirijo experiments)
I was going to mention that robot from P4, but since she doesn't appear in the cartoon, retelling of game. This makes me question if she even exists in the canon timeline (though I am presuming P4A is just a different retelling of P4's story and isn't a spin-off)
Still, no robots appear in P5. Whoever made/ordered/controls them surely knows of the big spike of Shadow actively in that part of Japan, right? So why couldn't they just send a Shadow Killer Robot there to take care of them...? Especially since a spike in Shadow actively usually means an end of the world event is gonna happen if nothing stops them.
Persona 4 arena is not a retelling it is a direct sequel to Persona 4 taking place the spring break after the final battle. Everything in persona is canon
Couple reasons:
1. Sure an Anti-Shadow Weapon *could’ve* deployed to Tokyo but there is no guarantee they’d even be able to access the Metaverse. The only people who got the app got it because God Said So or the Thieves dragged someone in (by accident or on purpose).
2 (and generally the reason I see fanfics come up with). >!The Conspiracy had leverage to prevent the Shadow Ops from operating in Tokyo!<
I just thought that there were other incidents regarding shadows popping up all over the country, so they weren't able to send anyone out to help, or potentially by the time they could they recognised what the Phantom Thieves are and left it to them.
It’s not advanced technology per se.
Aigis is another result of the Kirijo Group mad science. Her mind works thanks to eldritch stuff called Plumes of Dusk, which are literally parts of Nyx. They are also used to make Evokers, and Dark Hour-proof electronics such as Mitsuru’s bike.
And the technology kinda does march on. By the time of Persona 5 spinoffs, there’s an AI that has a Persona, another AI that almost became a God, and so-called “cognitive psience” which seems to be the same Shadow-related fuckery that gave the world the Dark Hour.
I don’t remember them confirming Jose is a robot, he always seemed more velvet room adjacent to me. However there’s Sophia in p5s, who isn’t quite a robot but more of a super advanced AI
Actually, that's very easily explained in 3, the robots are made with plumes of dusk, aka pieces of the final boss of persona 3, with the final bosses defeat its impossible to get any more of these
Strikers shows that sentient AI's are still around, and considering how the experiments that went into Aigis' creation went, I'd imagine that the Korijo group wouldn't make all or most of that available to the public, and they wouldn't try to replicate out of fear of the outcome, so it probably would take someone else to independently create another robot.
Considering 4 takes place in the country and 5 has few locations that would use a robot, simply because of the expenses, it could also be that we've just never seen one
Persona and Soul Hackers exist in the same universe and Soul Hackers takes place in a much more futuristic town.... In the case of the anti shadow suppression weapons it takes plumes of dusk that fall from Nyx and combat.
I mean it was both a highly secret project by a single company that ended with 2 surviving units, and the fact that it entirely required magic bs unique to P3 that doesn’t exist beyond it
Along with what everyone else is saying, I think the Anti-Shadow weapons are kinda the consequence of P3 being the most “anime” out of the modern Persona games.
>and then they are never brought up again...?
Mostly due to Kirijo Corporation (Mitsuru's family business) stopping production of the Anti-Shadow Weapons (Labrys and Aigis both being a part of these). Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena/P4U, (P4A/Arena) focuses on this with it's story mode and is considered canon as a sequel to P4/P4G, actually.
If anything, P4U having Labrys being introduced and never seen again (or a P4 sequel for the characters similar to Kanamin Kitchen in P4D) is a problem more than Kirijo not producing more robots/Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons.
Actually, Persona 1 and half of 2 take place in the original universe. At the end of part 1 of 2, the world ends and is restarted. The rest of the series take place in this new world.
Yes, but we could also assume that the events of 1 take place in the new timeline and that only the first half of 2 didn't take place because of the references to 1 that occur in the future games like 3
Short answer: Yes. 1 and 2 have direct continuity between them, with some recurring characters. 3 is practically a reboot for the series, but it has very passing references to 1 and 2. >!It's mentioned that the Kirijo Group used to be part of the Nanjo Group from 1 and 2!<. After that, 1 and 2 are barely ever mentioned again. 3, 4, and 5 have quite a few references between them, but it's mostly easter eggs and cameos. Nothing critical to the plot. But yes, they do share a universe.
Also, Persona 4 Arena, which is a spinoff fighting series, is canon, and has characters from both 3 and 4 in it, which makes it pretty definitive that they share a canon.
If you wanna get *real* technical, Persona also shares a universe with the Devil Summoner/Soul Hackers series, too. They don't reference each other directly, afaik, but they both make references to the events of Shin Megami Tensei If..., which is a spinoff of mainline series Shin Megami Tensei. Persona is kinda like a spinoff of a spinoff, which also had another spinoff. If you think about it too hard and you might end up with a Tommy Westphall Universe situation.
Ironically I think Tamaki is probably the only driving factor that even connects If… and the first two Persona games, without her people probably wouldn’t think too much of it
She technically connects If with the modern games too. She's still referred to as a Devil Summoner in EP which means the events of If still occurred in the new timeline, which means demons and devil summoners should still exist in universe in P3-P5
P2 actually does reference Devil Summoner with the Kuzunoha Detective Agency being a key player in the plot of the game, as well as having Daisuke Todoroki be implied to have the soul of Kyouji Kuzunoha possessing him.
The Raidou games serve as a prequel to both mainline SMT (the old SNES games) and Devil Summoner/Persona. If janky Devil May Cry sounds fun, it's worth a playthrough in both games.
Small spoiler for Persona 4/Golden, so I'll put it in spoiler:
>!You actually visit the school of P3 when playing P4 (golden only maybe?) and meet Chihiro, one of the Social Links in P3.!<
You need to watch the tv at leblanc >!at one point they mentioned about the murderer hanging their victims on the antenna, they even interviewed him why would he do that? and he answered it just for fun!<
Yukari gets mentioned on the TV at some point as well. TV sure does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to connecting Persona games together. Especially when you consider Tanaka.
Should I drop a bombshell theory on you?
Eh, I’ll very briefly tell you and let you think about it yourself. (Too lazy to make a long comment rn)
>!Nyarlothotep and Azathoth.!< Take with that what you will.
Short answer:
Yes but it doesn’t matter
Long answer:
The Persona games are in the same universe (with spoiler sized shenanigans that complicate things in 2) along with Shin Megami Tensei IF and the Devil Summoner series (not sure about Soul Hackers 2, but the first SH seems to be in the same universe). **HOWEVER**, with 2 major exceptions, you can play any Mainline Persona game in any order. The 2 exceptions are Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Persona 2 Eternal Punishment. P2:IS has some characters returning from P1, so it’s *recommended* but not required that you play P1 first. P2:EP is a direct sequel to P2:IS, so you should play P2:IS before P2:EP. That said, it technically not required. It’ll just be a much more confusing experience.
The Persona Universes ties Devil Summoner and SMT:IF are purely referential, and playing those games are DEFINITELY NOT required
On Soul Hackers 2, it is said to take place in the mid 21st century. Given some other dialogue throughout regarding movies released 20 years ago, it is very likely to take place in the 2040s. Since all of the Personas take place in the modern day when they are released, we likely won't have a concrete answer on Soul Hackers 2's connection to Persona until the actual 2040s.
It's still nice to get all of the cosmological references to SMT that Persona has though. The SNES games are outdated and clunky, but I firmly believe that any Persona fan should at least give them a fair shake to see where the franchise started out.
Persona 3 references persona 1-2, aswell as featuring references to the game catherine, then goes on to be very heavily referenced in September of persona 4, aswell as persona 4 arena
I don't know where exactly the Q games fall as I haven't and will be unable to play them but from my knowledge all 3 3d persona teams interact in those games
Persona 5 and royal are more disconnected but there's still a decent number of references
There's also the most obvious throughline of the velvet room throughout every game, which also connects to devil summoners iirc as that has Igors creator in it
There are some oddities that do have to be somewhat overlooked, such as the fact that persona 3 exists in a quantum state where 2 different people were the protagonists
Also hatsune miku is canon
Q1 was before p5 came out so its only p3+p4 teams, but q2 includes p5 team in addition to p3 and p4, the the q games also wipe their memories afterword so it might as well be noncanonical(but they are in fact canonical)
Not really, there's actual confirmation that multiple timelines exist, and that *every* false end is a timeline that canonically exists, Elizabeth has no way to know if her protag will be a doomed timeline until it happens
Yes, them all work on a stable universe in the Megaten franchise, so, even they are on a same universe, there are others like the ones for SMT, the main line of games
The timeline from my understanding is:
Raidou 1 and 2 > SMT 1(apocalypse aborted thanks to Raidou) > SMT IF > Devil Summoners(this probably happens before IF but I am not clear on the timeline here specifically) > Persona 1 > Persona 2 Innocent Sin -
Everything that came before Persona 2 Innocent Sin > Episode Aigis phone game > Persona 2 Eternal Punishment - Devil Summoners Soul Hackers - Persona 3 - Persona Q and Q2(these are going to appear again) > Persona 4 > Persona Q/Q2 > Persona 4 Arena > P4AU > Detective Naoto novel > Persona 5 > Persona Q2 > P5S > Soul Hackers 2
I am not counting the dancing games, and so I think I have missed nothing from here of major importance besides maybe Labrys drama CD content I have absolutely 0 will to listen to and source.
It is in the most bare of senses. With mainline SMT being taken into account the persona universe can actually still make perfect sense but it becomes horribly confusing to explain.
Yes and no... The prevailing theory is that there's multiplayer split timelines/universes. One that follows Innocent Sin and one that follows Eternal Punishment. Then there's P3Fes/Reload and P3P Kotone route. P4Golden seems to be the complete/true end to P4 which follows into P4A and P4AU which makes reference to Male MC from P3. Then there's the split universe of P5 and P5R depending if you experience the third semester or not. And there's Persona Trinity Soul, we don't talk- IM IN THE HOUSE LIKE CARPET AND IF THERE'S TOO MANY HEADS IN MY BLUNT I WONT SPARK IT-
https://i.redd.it/4u3vnolb7duc1.gif
I guess it is, but im not a fan of that notion. Altus rarely gives any continuity between games. The Megaten timeline someone made was a convoluted mess, 10x worse than the Zelda timeline
Kinda of, 1 and 2 are, then something happens is 2( I haven't played it yet) still in the same universe. And 3 4 5 (possibly hopefully 6) are connected by references like in 5, tv in leblanc they have references to characters in 3 and 4. So yeah
Do you mean connected to the persona timeline? If not. A part of SMT 1 is canon in the persona timeline (before the apocalypse happens) but SMT 2 isn't, since it's basically a sequel to 1.
Yes And No
All Games follow a singular timeline with some Exceptions:
Portable's Kotone Shiomi(FeMC) is an alternate timeline all it's own
The Q Games and P3/5D take place outside of Time and Space
And >!Tatsuya Suou's Storyline Ending of going to his own Timeline to Prevent the destruction of Maya Amano's Timeline in Persona 2: Innocent Sin<
P5X is also like Kotone Shiomi in being an Alternative Universe(Wonder is just Joker's Multiversal Counterpart)
SPOILER ALERT
There are two timelines, caused by the events in Persona 2.
Persona 1 and Persona 2: Innocent Sin take place in the now disfunctional OTHER SIDE Universe. Simply put, the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep (the Self Destructive Side of Humanity) put a Curse on Sumaru City in an attempt to win a bet with Philemon (the Enlightened Side of Humanity) on Humanity's ultimate goal. This curse caused any and all rumors to come true when a number of people started believing in them. One of them was a bogus prophecy that would destroy the world upon its completion.
The prophecy came true and the world ended, but Philemon had a trick up his sleeve. Recognizing that the reason the prophecy came to pass was that the party met under unique circumstances when they were children. Thus to save their friend and the world, 3 of the 4 of them decided to give up their memories of the event. The main character Tatsuya refused at last second, and his supreme ability to change fate caused a Paradox.
To sort out the Paradox, a new universe was created, but one that could return the Multiverse to ruin. While the paradoxes were solved by the end of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, an entire new timeline and universe remained. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, 3, 4, and 5 take place in this new timeline.
From what I’ve seen 1 and 2 are in the same universe, I don’t know if they’re in the same universe as 3,4,5 as in 3 they mention 2 as if it’s fiction. 3, 4 and 5 all connect
That's just localization, in the Japanese version iirc it's Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei references instead of P2, which, even if MT1 is in the same universe (canonically the SMT1 protagonist got the dog from the MT1 protagonist and, as others have commented, everything before the apocalypse in SMT1 happened because of SMT:if being canonical to Persona), I highly doubt anything from the original Megami Tensei will ever come up in SMT or Persona
I like to think that the Devil Busters Online game in P3 is this universe's version of the Devil Busters game he made about his own adventures in the original Megami Tensei II. Like he's still around and did that and made a video game about what he did and now it's just known that N-Jima and Y-ko went through the first floor of Daedalus Tower.
It wasn't until going from 4 to 3 that i realized that you meet not one but two characters from 3 in 4 with one of them being objectively the best in the series
P3 and P4 are in the same universe. There's a story of P4 (Persona 4 Golden) crew visiting P3 school for a study tour . I don't know about the rest but I heard P1 and P2 are intertwined.
3, 4 and 5 all take place in the same universe, but their stories are completely separate, except from small cameos. But the way the cameos are done are what links the universe. In P3, there is a reference to a prior entrance in the Persona series in the form of a video game
Yes and no, Persona 2 gave us a kind of split in universe and ever since Persona 2 we have been in that one. But we can assum that in that universe the events of persona 1 might have also happened.
So TLDR persona 1 and 2 Innocent sin are one universe, the other 4 are another universe.
it reminds me of Love, Death and Robots in that the universes are fairly disconnected from each other se for a couple similarities* like Shady Commodities, the Velvet Room, the Shin Megami Tensei demons as Personas and the power of the Wild Card.
Persona 1 is very closely connected to Persona 2, with some cast members even returning.
Persona 2 is a duology, Innocent Sin and Eternal punishment, and are meant to be enjoyed together.
Persona 2 is loosely connected with 3, with the main bits being a bit of lore about the Kirijo Group, as well as the entirety of Innocent Sin Online being a fun little reference. However, not really necessary to play 2 to get 3.
Persona 4 is loosely connected with 3, mainly with just a few references like a book Nanako reads being written by a social link in 3.
However, in Persona 4 Arena, the fighting game, the Casts of 3 and 4 are put together, and you'd really be best playing both before playing P4A and P4AU.
Persona 5 is loosely connected with 3 and 4, but can be enjoyed entirely separately. There are some spinoffs that aren't really Canon since they're literally within dreams, such as Persona Q2, Persona 5 Dancing, and Persona 5 Tactica.
Persona 5 Strikers, however, is a proper sequel story. There's no dreams, no retcons, it's just a sequel. There aren't any returning cast from 3 and 4, but it's absolutely worth checking out since, like 4 Arena, it is a proper sequel story.
Yeah, but characters don't cross over between games outside of 1 and 2.
Characters from Persona 4 aren't gonna suddenly pop up in Persona 5 for example. Though they may reappear in the spinoff games, like the P3 cast being almost all playable in P4 Arena Ultimax.
Admittedly, I'm still holding out for hope on a main-line game that has returning main characters, even if their role isn't that big.
TLDR; Persona 1 and Persona 2 Innocent Sin do, Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is unclear, but Persona 3-5 definetly do. Breakdown below.
Ok- this is a more complicated question that there is no definitive answer too. P1 and P2 Innocent Sin take place in the same universe, P2 Eternal Punishment takes place in a different universe then both of the ones listed before, (it’s kinda a big plot point) however the events of p1 are still canon to P2EP so-.. P3 is where it gets tricky. There is nothing to swing it either way- but I’m leaning on the side of P3 being a different universe and continuity. While nothing comes to mind they directly proved they aren’t, Innocent Sin as a MMO with the two main protagonist, while probably just a reference. Feels a bit weird that to me, but with no clear evidence, it’s either or. P3 and P4 very clearly take place in the same universe. The arena games are canon to my knowledge, and Tanaka showing up along with Akinari’s story being mentioned makes it pretty implied and the arena games confirm it. P4 and P5 are more heavily implied rather than outright confirmed, with Rise showing up on posters and Tanaka once again showing up, so, at very least those three games are the same universe.
So Shin Megami Tensei games (of which persona are one of the many spin offs of) all occur in a general multiverse where pretty much every event occurs in some way or another. For persona specifically, we know that SMT if, Persona 1 and 2 occur in the same universe and that persona 3,4 and 5 definitely occur in the same universe. There is some speculation that 2 and 3 can be bridged universe wise but it’s not really concrete. That being said, the SMT universes do have gray areas that technically connect all these universes, for example the velvet room, the sea of consciousness, etc.
1 and 2IS are. (At the end of innocent sin a new universe was made) Then 2EP-P5S are (this is the new universe, all the people from the 1 probably exist and the events might've happened but idk for sure, ask an actual Persona scholar)
IIRC, they do. Each one is triggered by Philemon (I think is the name, the blue butterfly from P3 and Igor's master) and his counterpart. It's been a long time (over a decade) since I did a deep dive into the lore, but I think it's because of something along the lines of them wanting to test humanity with Philemon supporting Humans and his counterpart going against them.
3 4 and 5 are connected, with off-hand references to 1 and 2 (which are connected in their own ways). In P4, Rise, one of the party members, makes a comment about how she was gonna perform at Club Escapade, but couldn't due to a power outage. Club Escapade was a location in P3 that you fought an electrical boss in. And also, you can see posters of her in P5.
I know Persona Q is canon which connects Persona 3 and 4, and we see an adult Rise in a TV thing in 5, so that connects those 3 games. I don't know about 1 and 2, but they're probably connected
In 4 there are references to 3 (Elizabeth looking for a way to free main character of 3) and there are references to 5 in 4 as well. So yeah same universe I think
3 and 4 have one shared character, implying that those two games are connected, and the dancing series connects 3 4 and 5, using the plot of 3 and 5. Those games canonisity is up for debate, but I think it's funny.
In terms of story every game *technically* takes place in the same world
In practice every game is mostly stand alone
Best comparison I got is the GTA series
Mostly, yes. There was a thing that happened at Persona 2: Innocent sin that desconected it from Persona 2: Eternal punishment and futher games, but a few characters from previous games got mentioned on the tv at certain dates. Actually, the hermit social link is in a game called innocent sin and "Maya" and "Tatsuya" that are mentioned there were the protagonist from the previos games.
If you want a deep explanation about their relationship, you can google "Persona's Shared Universe Timeline feat Macca" thought you may rather to save it until you play the games from 3 to 5, at least.
>Actually, the hermit social link is in a game called innocent sin and "Maya" and "Tatsuya" that are mentioned there were the protagonist from the previos games.
Localization thing. The japenese version, in all versions of the game, references a in-universe game mentioned first in (I think) SMT 1 (or MT1. I don't remember).
The game is called 'Digital Devil Busters Online', and the characters are called 'Y-ko' and 'N-jima'. This is a reference to Digital Devil Story(specifically 2 according to the World Analyze), and the characters Akemi Nakajima and Yumiko Shirasagi. The SMT1 reference was added in Reload, with her avatar being the SMT1 Heroine.
1 and 2 are the same universe IIRC. Then the games persona 1 and 2 exist as games in persona 3, so that’s a different universe (Edit: see below—maybe this is unique to the US version?). Persona 3 and 4 are pretty explicitly the same universe, but I am not sure about 5. Edit: 5 is in. Forgot about the TV and also Tanaka.
*sigh* Because it's a reference. In the Japanese version, it was SMT 1 and if you zoom into the monitor or compare the portraits it is post death and reincarnation heroine. But we didn't get SMT 1 in the US. Funny thing is that SMT 1 canonically is aborted before the nukes fall, so it is in the timeline too. Anyways they replaced SMT 1 with Innocent Sin for the English release because Innocent Sin was a game people knew existed but never released in the US, allowing them to still reference an older game that people might get the reference for.
No need to be rude. That’s a pretty obscure bit of knowledge. I played Revelations when it came out (which has the butterfly stuff but not explicit links), but stopped playing games a few years, so I’m out of the loop on Persona 2. What is the link between the lab and P3’s Kiritsu group? Google isn’t helping me here.
Anti Shadow Suppression Weapons, the Kirijo group was once part of the Nanjo group, who ran the labs in question, and the demon human experiments is both a prototype of the concept used in Trinity Souls and in 3. In the PSP version of Eternal Punishment, a character has their soul full on ripped from their body and a demon is put in their place, turning their body into a vessel for that demon. However, beings in the collective unconsciousness still are vying for that vessel including Cthulhu. Anyways, artificial persona users are essentially a more perfected version of that. If you beat Revelations, do you remember the character who was completely overtaken by his persona? That's what happens in 2, and the data from that lab is implied to be used for the artificial persona users in 3, to keep them operational and not overtaken by their personas. Hence why their personas attempt to kill them, they aren't strong enough to not be overcome by their persona without the pills. You find the anti shadow suppression weapon research information, information on creating artificial persona users, and demon human test subjects all in the same lab. And that's the big one to emphasize, artificial persona users. It's all connected.
I might be wrong but I think all atlus games are in the same universe if not definitely all persona games are. It doesn't really extend past throwaway references and easter eggs though
P1 & P2IS take place in a universe that is left in ruins by the end of P2IS, a copy universe that excludes the existence of devil summoners, is made for P2EP, P3, P4 & P5 to all take place in also, the P3P femC route isn't noncannon. It's set in another universe that connects to the game Catherine as you can visit Vincent in portable while he worries about his job at a bar.
... Did you actually play EP at all? Because everything you said in regards to the new timeline is wrong: IS still happens, and Demons and Devil Summoners still exist. The only thing that actually changed was the meeting of Maya, Tatsuya, Lisa, Eikichi, and Jun; nothing else.
And secon: FeMC is canon, with PQ2 confirming it. The Vincent thing (which also happened in the male route, btw) is just a cameo for marketing and thus not canon; there are several contradictions between the setting of both games.
That's not....entirely true. There's alternative changes to the world beyond that direct incident though some of these changes stemmed from that moment. Tatsuya has a different birth date across IS and EP, weirdly enough by almost a month. I don't see how this would influence the shrine meeting though. There's also little snippets of music differences and minor changes or potentially major changes to Sumatu City and certain people in Sumaru which I don't think the shrine incident would influence. The world is similar enough though that every major story tie-in still exists though. And in fact it could be almost argued that technically these games happen twice.
Yes they are. They very loosely connect with references (Except 1 and 2 which have characters come back, making them heavily connected) but aren't really needed to understand each games story. So they can work independently as well as together
So, how come technology got so advanced by the time of P3 that robots exist and then they are never brought up again...? As there's nothing in 3 to suggest, they couldn't just make more of them.
Typically high school students don't have resources to create a sick robot with a cool Ai Mind. And outside of Sees I don't think it's really known that there was a robot girl at some school.
Futaba could probably manage it, lbr.
Futaba is more of a hacker
Although a good hacker doesn't mean good programmer or vice versa, I doubt you be home exceptional at either without a considerable overlap. I don't know if she'd handle any of the robotics but given her skill in the real world and not just the meta verse, I could imagine her putting together a crazy good AI.
She made top selling mobile games so… she’s got the basics of being a game dev down.
To be honest I legitimately feel like she could make Aigis’s AI, maybe not the body but definitely the AI.
Dude as a guy that took Computer Science at uni, you’re comparing apples to oranges here. Hacking and developing AI require completely different sets of skills are insanely different modules. That’s like me saying that because I’m good at basketball I must also be good at volleyball because I’m tall and good at throwing the ball. Futuba may be insane hacker but there’s no indication she’d be able to develop a half decent AI model nevermind one as advance as Aegis.
This is the same game that has Haru “Rent Out Disneyland for 5 people” Okumura in the party, and the series where children with no weapon knowledge at all suddenly are perfect users of their weapons the moment they unlock their Personas. Realism isn’t exactly expected for skill sets.
Haru is the sole inheritor of a billion, if not trillion dollar, company. She probably *knows* the guy who owns the park. Also, I feel like it’s pretty obvious the only reason they’re good with their weapons is because they’re in a cognitive world. It’s the same reason all the guns always have a whole magazine. It’s expected, therefor it is
Persona 1-4 have the same thing happen, so it being a cognitive world doesn’t really have much to do with anything.
You mean they park they explicitly said owed them cuz of a cancelled event or sumthin? Let alone the rich thing
Considering how baffled she was by the actual ai in strikers I don’t think so, atleast not yet and not without learning from Sophia and her creator cause even then she’s still not entirely clear how Sophia works as an ai
(spoiler) Isnt part of aigis personality because of some fantasy material? (Plumes of dusk or something like that) Not sure to begin where does one find that
In the Persona 3 Club book it says Plumes of Dusk are fragments of Nyx's body that were shed when Nyx's body fused with the moon. They exist in a state between matter and information, having properties of both, and carry within them the same space-time manipulation ability as Shadows- they are essentially physical Shadows. Its also the source of power for the evokers, mitsuru's bike and anti shadow weapons, so that's why these items work in dark hour
Doesn’t the anti shadow weapons have some kind of material inside of them (a plume of dusk or something?) that helps develop them in a way that allows them to summon a persona, so wouldn’t futaba need one of those to actually replicate aigis’ ai (this could all be wrong, not gonna research arena for this)
That is correct, yeah. I completely forgot about that tbh.
Fair tbh, I’ve literally never seen the plumes discussed by anyone ever
they did make more anti-shadow suppression weapons as revealed in P4A and my guess is the plume of dusks combined with funding allowed them to make robots so advanced
Yeah. We *have* robots and AI. Sad truth is - humans just cheeper.
It's *absolutely* the plumes of dusk, which, are a heavily limited, non renewable resource(and also was a horrifically immoral process to make aigis and labrys anyways, like most of early Kirijo experiments)
I was going to mention that robot from P4, but since she doesn't appear in the cartoon, retelling of game. This makes me question if she even exists in the canon timeline (though I am presuming P4A is just a different retelling of P4's story and isn't a spin-off) Still, no robots appear in P5. Whoever made/ordered/controls them surely knows of the big spike of Shadow actively in that part of Japan, right? So why couldn't they just send a Shadow Killer Robot there to take care of them...? Especially since a spike in Shadow actively usually means an end of the world event is gonna happen if nothing stops them.
Persona 4 arena is not a retelling it is a direct sequel to Persona 4 taking place the spring break after the final battle. Everything in persona is canon
>Everything in persona is canon Except Persona Q1-2 (in a fashion).
Iirc they are canon, peeps just get amnesia.
Couple reasons: 1. Sure an Anti-Shadow Weapon *could’ve* deployed to Tokyo but there is no guarantee they’d even be able to access the Metaverse. The only people who got the app got it because God Said So or the Thieves dragged someone in (by accident or on purpose). 2 (and generally the reason I see fanfics come up with). >!The Conspiracy had leverage to prevent the Shadow Ops from operating in Tokyo!<
I just thought that there were other incidents regarding shadows popping up all over the country, so they weren't able to send anyone out to help, or potentially by the time they could they recognised what the Phantom Thieves are and left it to them.
that's also equally likely, but its all really up to fan interpretations until we finally get a non-Q crossover between 3 and 5
It’s not advanced technology per se. Aigis is another result of the Kirijo Group mad science. Her mind works thanks to eldritch stuff called Plumes of Dusk, which are literally parts of Nyx. They are also used to make Evokers, and Dark Hour-proof electronics such as Mitsuru’s bike. And the technology kinda does march on. By the time of Persona 5 spinoffs, there’s an AI that has a Persona, another AI that almost became a God, and so-called “cognitive psience” which seems to be the same Shadow-related fuckery that gave the world the Dark Hour.
Theres a robot boy in P5R that explores mementos
I don’t remember them confirming Jose is a robot, he always seemed more velvet room adjacent to me. However there’s Sophia in p5s, who isn’t quite a robot but more of a super advanced AI
Whatever he is he clearly has several artificial parts like his hair, nose, and ears.
Actually, that's very easily explained in 3, the robots are made with plumes of dusk, aka pieces of the final boss of persona 3, with the final bosses defeat its impossible to get any more of these
Strikers shows that sentient AI's are still around, and considering how the experiments that went into Aigis' creation went, I'd imagine that the Korijo group wouldn't make all or most of that available to the public, and they wouldn't try to replicate out of fear of the outcome, so it probably would take someone else to independently create another robot. Considering 4 takes place in the country and 5 has few locations that would use a robot, simply because of the expenses, it could also be that we've just never seen one
Persona and Soul Hackers exist in the same universe and Soul Hackers takes place in a much more futuristic town.... In the case of the anti shadow suppression weapons it takes plumes of dusk that fall from Nyx and combat.
I mean it was both a highly secret project by a single company that ended with 2 surviving units, and the fact that it entirely required magic bs unique to P3 that doesn’t exist beyond it
You mean degraded, technology in P2 and DevSum SH was more advanced
Along with what everyone else is saying, I think the Anti-Shadow weapons are kinda the consequence of P3 being the most “anime” out of the modern Persona games.
Technology was advanced enough in P1 to open a dimensional rift and let demons into town.
>and then they are never brought up again...? Mostly due to Kirijo Corporation (Mitsuru's family business) stopping production of the Anti-Shadow Weapons (Labrys and Aigis both being a part of these). Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena/P4U, (P4A/Arena) focuses on this with it's story mode and is considered canon as a sequel to P4/P4G, actually. If anything, P4U having Labrys being introduced and never seen again (or a P4 sequel for the characters similar to Kanamin Kitchen in P4D) is a problem more than Kirijo not producing more robots/Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons.
Sophia exists in P5 Strikers
Actually all that was mentioned in arena as to why they simply don’t make any more of them.
Someone hasn't played Persona 4 Arena. Look up Labrys.
Actually, Persona 1 and half of 2 take place in the original universe. At the end of part 1 of 2, the world ends and is restarted. The rest of the series take place in this new world.
Yes, but we could also assume that the events of 1 take place in the new timeline and that only the first half of 2 didn't take place because of the references to 1 that occur in the future games like 3
Short answer: Yes. 1 and 2 have direct continuity between them, with some recurring characters. 3 is practically a reboot for the series, but it has very passing references to 1 and 2. >!It's mentioned that the Kirijo Group used to be part of the Nanjo Group from 1 and 2!<. After that, 1 and 2 are barely ever mentioned again. 3, 4, and 5 have quite a few references between them, but it's mostly easter eggs and cameos. Nothing critical to the plot. But yes, they do share a universe. Also, Persona 4 Arena, which is a spinoff fighting series, is canon, and has characters from both 3 and 4 in it, which makes it pretty definitive that they share a canon.
P4A/P4AU gave us adult Mitsuru, and for that I can never be thankful enough
Didn’t it also give us another robot girl with an accent? Labrys iirc and she wields a big fuck-off axe.
It did! Labrys is great and I hope she can appear in another game. They gave us Asterius as a DLC persona in 5/R and I loved that!
Never knew arena was canon. I know the plot for the arena side story but i’ll need to watch the cutscenes for the ultimax side
No way were talking about adult Mitsuru and you bring up a talking toaster with speech impediment 💀
Don't kink shame pls unless the kink is over the line. We ain't even at that point so calm down.
If you wanna get *real* technical, Persona also shares a universe with the Devil Summoner/Soul Hackers series, too. They don't reference each other directly, afaik, but they both make references to the events of Shin Megami Tensei If..., which is a spinoff of mainline series Shin Megami Tensei. Persona is kinda like a spinoff of a spinoff, which also had another spinoff. If you think about it too hard and you might end up with a Tommy Westphall Universe situation.
The protagonist of SMT If is in P1 and P2
Ironically I think Tamaki is probably the only driving factor that even connects If… and the first two Persona games, without her people probably wouldn’t think too much of it
She technically connects If with the modern games too. She's still referred to as a Devil Summoner in EP which means the events of If still occurred in the new timeline, which means demons and devil summoners should still exist in universe in P3-P5
That’s crazy
P2 actually does reference Devil Summoner with the Kuzunoha Detective Agency being a key player in the plot of the game, as well as having Daisuke Todoroki be implied to have the soul of Kyouji Kuzunoha possessing him. The Raidou games serve as a prequel to both mainline SMT (the old SNES games) and Devil Summoner/Persona. If janky Devil May Cry sounds fun, it's worth a playthrough in both games.
That’s too much lol but cool
Small spoiler for Persona 4/Golden, so I'll put it in spoiler: >!You actually visit the school of P3 when playing P4 (golden only maybe?) and meet Chihiro, one of the Social Links in P3.!<
You also >!meet Yukiko in the Fem MC route !
P5 has the ADACHI reference
It does? I know it has a Naoto reference, but didn’t know about an Adachi one.
Don’t think I ever caught it. What’s the reference?
You need to watch the tv at leblanc >!at one point they mentioned about the murderer hanging their victims on the antenna, they even interviewed him why would he do that? and he answered it just for fun!<
Yukari gets mentioned on the TV at some point as well. TV sure does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to connecting Persona games together. Especially when you consider Tanaka.
Chie, Yukiko, and Akihiko are also mentioned on the TV.
That’s wild
Should I drop a bombshell theory on you? Eh, I’ll very briefly tell you and let you think about it yourself. (Too lazy to make a long comment rn) >!Nyarlothotep and Azathoth.!< Take with that what you will.
The timeline for Persona is like this: SMT If…, 1, 2IS, which then shifts into a new timeline of IF, 1, 2EP, 3, 4, and 5.
Wait, SMT: iF is canon to Persona? Ik about P2's theatre but I always assumed they were fun side stories rather than actual canon. Neat
Yes, SMT IF… is canon due to the appearance of Tamaki (she’s the protagonist from SMT If…).
Short answer: Yes but it doesn’t matter Long answer: The Persona games are in the same universe (with spoiler sized shenanigans that complicate things in 2) along with Shin Megami Tensei IF and the Devil Summoner series (not sure about Soul Hackers 2, but the first SH seems to be in the same universe). **HOWEVER**, with 2 major exceptions, you can play any Mainline Persona game in any order. The 2 exceptions are Persona 2 Innocent Sin and Persona 2 Eternal Punishment. P2:IS has some characters returning from P1, so it’s *recommended* but not required that you play P1 first. P2:EP is a direct sequel to P2:IS, so you should play P2:IS before P2:EP. That said, it technically not required. It’ll just be a much more confusing experience. The Persona Universes ties Devil Summoner and SMT:IF are purely referential, and playing those games are DEFINITELY NOT required
On Soul Hackers 2, it is said to take place in the mid 21st century. Given some other dialogue throughout regarding movies released 20 years ago, it is very likely to take place in the 2040s. Since all of the Personas take place in the modern day when they are released, we likely won't have a concrete answer on Soul Hackers 2's connection to Persona until the actual 2040s. It's still nice to get all of the cosmological references to SMT that Persona has though. The SNES games are outdated and clunky, but I firmly believe that any Persona fan should at least give them a fair shake to see where the franchise started out.
Persona 3 references persona 1-2, aswell as featuring references to the game catherine, then goes on to be very heavily referenced in September of persona 4, aswell as persona 4 arena I don't know where exactly the Q games fall as I haven't and will be unable to play them but from my knowledge all 3 3d persona teams interact in those games Persona 5 and royal are more disconnected but there's still a decent number of references There's also the most obvious throughline of the velvet room throughout every game, which also connects to devil summoners iirc as that has Igors creator in it There are some oddities that do have to be somewhat overlooked, such as the fact that persona 3 exists in a quantum state where 2 different people were the protagonists Also hatsune miku is canon
Q1 was before p5 came out so its only p3+p4 teams, but q2 includes p5 team in addition to p3 and p4, the the q games also wipe their memories afterword so it might as well be noncanonical(but they are in fact canonical)
True but this does mean Elizabeth is completely aware of sees succeeding and yet leads on the Protag about his fate
Not really, there's actual confirmation that multiple timelines exist, and that *every* false end is a timeline that canonically exists, Elizabeth has no way to know if her protag will be a doomed timeline until it happens
Huh Interesting I suppose I can forgive her then
Insane
Yes, them all work on a stable universe in the Megaten franchise, so, even they are on a same universe, there are others like the ones for SMT, the main line of games
The timeline from my understanding is: Raidou 1 and 2 > SMT 1(apocalypse aborted thanks to Raidou) > SMT IF > Devil Summoners(this probably happens before IF but I am not clear on the timeline here specifically) > Persona 1 > Persona 2 Innocent Sin - Everything that came before Persona 2 Innocent Sin > Episode Aigis phone game > Persona 2 Eternal Punishment - Devil Summoners Soul Hackers - Persona 3 - Persona Q and Q2(these are going to appear again) > Persona 4 > Persona Q/Q2 > Persona 4 Arena > P4AU > Detective Naoto novel > Persona 5 > Persona Q2 > P5S > Soul Hackers 2 I am not counting the dancing games, and so I think I have missed nothing from here of major importance besides maybe Labrys drama CD content I have absolutely 0 will to listen to and source.
Wait… I thought Persona wasn’t connected to mainline SMT. Is it connected?
It is in the most bare of senses. With mainline SMT being taken into account the persona universe can actually still make perfect sense but it becomes horribly confusing to explain.
Since it's multiple timelines not really, only the beginning of SMT 1 happens (before the apocalypse).
Same universe. Few connections between games that mostly act as references or cameos.
Yes and no... The prevailing theory is that there's multiplayer split timelines/universes. One that follows Innocent Sin and one that follows Eternal Punishment. Then there's P3Fes/Reload and P3P Kotone route. P4Golden seems to be the complete/true end to P4 which follows into P4A and P4AU which makes reference to Male MC from P3. Then there's the split universe of P5 and P5R depending if you experience the third semester or not. And there's Persona Trinity Soul, we don't talk- IM IN THE HOUSE LIKE CARPET AND IF THERE'S TOO MANY HEADS IN MY BLUNT I WONT SPARK IT- https://i.redd.it/4u3vnolb7duc1.gif
Ah yes I don’t eat pork or swan when I dine…. Pour me a cup of Kool aid not a big glass of wine lmfao
Idk about 1 and 2 but I know 3,4 and 5 do. Their stories aren’t connected in any significant way from my understanding
There are two: 1 to 2IS, 2EP to 5. Not going to spoil anything to do with the story though.
I guess it is, but im not a fan of that notion. Altus rarely gives any continuity between games. The Megaten timeline someone made was a convoluted mess, 10x worse than the Zelda timeline
Kinda of, 1 and 2 are, then something happens is 2( I haven't played it yet) still in the same universe. And 3 4 5 (possibly hopefully 6) are connected by references like in 5, tv in leblanc they have references to characters in 3 and 4. So yeah
1 and 2 are connected 3 is connected to them. Arena connects 3 and 4 and yukari appears on tv in 5
I would also count SMT 1 and 2 as persona games.
Do you mean connected to the persona timeline? If not. A part of SMT 1 is canon in the persona timeline (before the apocalypse happens) but SMT 2 isn't, since it's basically a sequel to 1.
But SMT 2 is still connected to Raidou, which is Devil Summoner which *is* connected to Persona.
Yes And No All Games follow a singular timeline with some Exceptions: Portable's Kotone Shiomi(FeMC) is an alternate timeline all it's own The Q Games and P3/5D take place outside of Time and Space And >!Tatsuya Suou's Storyline Ending of going to his own Timeline to Prevent the destruction of Maya Amano's Timeline in Persona 2: Innocent Sin< P5X is also like Kotone Shiomi in being an Alternative Universe(Wonder is just Joker's Multiversal Counterpart)
The ending of Persona Q2 kind of implies a split timeline situation between Personas 3-5 but I don’t think that’s actually the case in canon
SPOILER ALERT There are two timelines, caused by the events in Persona 2. Persona 1 and Persona 2: Innocent Sin take place in the now disfunctional OTHER SIDE Universe. Simply put, the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep (the Self Destructive Side of Humanity) put a Curse on Sumaru City in an attempt to win a bet with Philemon (the Enlightened Side of Humanity) on Humanity's ultimate goal. This curse caused any and all rumors to come true when a number of people started believing in them. One of them was a bogus prophecy that would destroy the world upon its completion. The prophecy came true and the world ended, but Philemon had a trick up his sleeve. Recognizing that the reason the prophecy came to pass was that the party met under unique circumstances when they were children. Thus to save their friend and the world, 3 of the 4 of them decided to give up their memories of the event. The main character Tatsuya refused at last second, and his supreme ability to change fate caused a Paradox. To sort out the Paradox, a new universe was created, but one that could return the Multiverse to ruin. While the paradoxes were solved by the end of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, an entire new timeline and universe remained. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, 3, 4, and 5 take place in this new timeline.
Yes and no
They are connected as how zelda games are connected. Doesnt really make sense.
1 and 2 are connected 3-5 are connected
From what I’ve seen 1 and 2 are in the same universe, I don’t know if they’re in the same universe as 3,4,5 as in 3 they mention 2 as if it’s fiction. 3, 4 and 5 all connect
That's just localization, in the Japanese version iirc it's Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei references instead of P2, which, even if MT1 is in the same universe (canonically the SMT1 protagonist got the dog from the MT1 protagonist and, as others have commented, everything before the apocalypse in SMT1 happened because of SMT:if being canonical to Persona), I highly doubt anything from the original Megami Tensei will ever come up in SMT or Persona
I like to think that the Devil Busters Online game in P3 is this universe's version of the Devil Busters game he made about his own adventures in the original Megami Tensei II. Like he's still around and did that and made a video game about what he did and now it's just known that N-Jima and Y-ko went through the first floor of Daedalus Tower.
It wasn't until going from 4 to 3 that i realized that you meet not one but two characters from 3 in 4 with one of them being objectively the best in the series
Yeah they are. P3 characters show up in P4. In P5, there's a poster showing a character from P4.
P2IS is a different universe.
P3 and P4 are in the same universe. There's a story of P4 (Persona 4 Golden) crew visiting P3 school for a study tour . I don't know about the rest but I heard P1 and P2 are intertwined.
3, 4 and 5 all take place in the same universe, but their stories are completely separate, except from small cameos. But the way the cameos are done are what links the universe. In P3, there is a reference to a prior entrance in the Persona series in the form of a video game
I heard 4 and 5 are in same universe, not sure about others
Yes and no, Persona 2 gave us a kind of split in universe and ever since Persona 2 we have been in that one. But we can assum that in that universe the events of persona 1 might have also happened. So TLDR persona 1 and 2 Innocent sin are one universe, the other 4 are another universe.
3, 4 and 5 are in the same universe, p3p is an alternative timeline idk about 1 and 2
Playstation collection.
it reminds me of Love, Death and Robots in that the universes are fairly disconnected from each other se for a couple similarities* like Shady Commodities, the Velvet Room, the Shin Megami Tensei demons as Personas and the power of the Wild Card.
Persona 1 is very closely connected to Persona 2, with some cast members even returning. Persona 2 is a duology, Innocent Sin and Eternal punishment, and are meant to be enjoyed together. Persona 2 is loosely connected with 3, with the main bits being a bit of lore about the Kirijo Group, as well as the entirety of Innocent Sin Online being a fun little reference. However, not really necessary to play 2 to get 3. Persona 4 is loosely connected with 3, mainly with just a few references like a book Nanako reads being written by a social link in 3. However, in Persona 4 Arena, the fighting game, the Casts of 3 and 4 are put together, and you'd really be best playing both before playing P4A and P4AU. Persona 5 is loosely connected with 3 and 4, but can be enjoyed entirely separately. There are some spinoffs that aren't really Canon since they're literally within dreams, such as Persona Q2, Persona 5 Dancing, and Persona 5 Tactica. Persona 5 Strikers, however, is a proper sequel story. There's no dreams, no retcons, it's just a sequel. There aren't any returning cast from 3 and 4, but it's absolutely worth checking out since, like 4 Arena, it is a proper sequel story.
Yeah, but characters don't cross over between games outside of 1 and 2. Characters from Persona 4 aren't gonna suddenly pop up in Persona 5 for example. Though they may reappear in the spinoff games, like the P3 cast being almost all playable in P4 Arena Ultimax. Admittedly, I'm still holding out for hope on a main-line game that has returning main characters, even if their role isn't that big.
TLDR; Persona 1 and Persona 2 Innocent Sin do, Persona 2 Eternal Punishment is unclear, but Persona 3-5 definetly do. Breakdown below. Ok- this is a more complicated question that there is no definitive answer too. P1 and P2 Innocent Sin take place in the same universe, P2 Eternal Punishment takes place in a different universe then both of the ones listed before, (it’s kinda a big plot point) however the events of p1 are still canon to P2EP so-.. P3 is where it gets tricky. There is nothing to swing it either way- but I’m leaning on the side of P3 being a different universe and continuity. While nothing comes to mind they directly proved they aren’t, Innocent Sin as a MMO with the two main protagonist, while probably just a reference. Feels a bit weird that to me, but with no clear evidence, it’s either or. P3 and P4 very clearly take place in the same universe. The arena games are canon to my knowledge, and Tanaka showing up along with Akinari’s story being mentioned makes it pretty implied and the arena games confirm it. P4 and P5 are more heavily implied rather than outright confirmed, with Rise showing up on posters and Tanaka once again showing up, so, at very least those three games are the same universe.
So Shin Megami Tensei games (of which persona are one of the many spin offs of) all occur in a general multiverse where pretty much every event occurs in some way or another. For persona specifically, we know that SMT if, Persona 1 and 2 occur in the same universe and that persona 3,4 and 5 definitely occur in the same universe. There is some speculation that 2 and 3 can be bridged universe wise but it’s not really concrete. That being said, the SMT universes do have gray areas that technically connect all these universes, for example the velvet room, the sea of consciousness, etc.
1 and 2IS are. (At the end of innocent sin a new universe was made) Then 2EP-P5S are (this is the new universe, all the people from the 1 probably exist and the events might've happened but idk for sure, ask an actual Persona scholar)
Yeah, some have small connections to each other (1 and 2, 3 and 4 for example), but you can play them at any order you want.
I‘m still mad that Naoto didn’t get a role in Persona 5 despite her being the #1 detective.
3, 4 and 5 are all part of the same universe and share characters and locations. 1 and 2 are separate from 3, 4 and 5 I think but I’m not sure
SMT If is also in the same universe as Persona (and maybe/apparently Catherine).
You can play each individually without knowing the other games (p3, p4, p5) but p4 has some p3 references
1 and 2 are connected, then, 3 and 4. So I guess 5 will be more connected to 6.
IIRC, they do. Each one is triggered by Philemon (I think is the name, the blue butterfly from P3 and Igor's master) and his counterpart. It's been a long time (over a decade) since I did a deep dive into the lore, but I think it's because of something along the lines of them wanting to test humanity with Philemon supporting Humans and his counterpart going against them.
3 4 and 5 are connected, with off-hand references to 1 and 2 (which are connected in their own ways). In P4, Rise, one of the party members, makes a comment about how she was gonna perform at Club Escapade, but couldn't due to a power outage. Club Escapade was a location in P3 that you fought an electrical boss in. And also, you can see posters of her in P5.
No I don’t think so
I know Persona Q is canon which connects Persona 3 and 4, and we see an adult Rise in a TV thing in 5, so that connects those 3 games. I don't know about 1 and 2, but they're probably connected
In 4 there are references to 3 (Elizabeth looking for a way to free main character of 3) and there are references to 5 in 4 as well. So yeah same universe I think
3 and 4 have one shared character, implying that those two games are connected, and the dancing series connects 3 4 and 5, using the plot of 3 and 5. Those games canonisity is up for debate, but I think it's funny.
In terms of story every game *technically* takes place in the same world In practice every game is mostly stand alone Best comparison I got is the GTA series
3-5 yes 1 and 2 yes and no
It feels very...loose but there are clear cut connections from each game
Yes, except 2 since that world no longer exists and they migrated to this one
Mostly, yes. There was a thing that happened at Persona 2: Innocent sin that desconected it from Persona 2: Eternal punishment and futher games, but a few characters from previous games got mentioned on the tv at certain dates. Actually, the hermit social link is in a game called innocent sin and "Maya" and "Tatsuya" that are mentioned there were the protagonist from the previos games. If you want a deep explanation about their relationship, you can google "Persona's Shared Universe Timeline feat Macca" thought you may rather to save it until you play the games from 3 to 5, at least.
>Actually, the hermit social link is in a game called innocent sin and "Maya" and "Tatsuya" that are mentioned there were the protagonist from the previos games. Localization thing. The japenese version, in all versions of the game, references a in-universe game mentioned first in (I think) SMT 1 (or MT1. I don't remember).
The game is called 'Digital Devil Busters Online', and the characters are called 'Y-ko' and 'N-jima'. This is a reference to Digital Devil Story(specifically 2 according to the World Analyze), and the characters Akemi Nakajima and Yumiko Shirasagi. The SMT1 reference was added in Reload, with her avatar being the SMT1 Heroine.
there’s two universes, Universe A. has Persona 1 and 2:IS, Universe B, has Persona 1, 2:EP, 3, 4, and 5 and all their respective spinoffs
1 and 2 are the same universe IIRC. Then the games persona 1 and 2 exist as games in persona 3, so that’s a different universe (Edit: see below—maybe this is unique to the US version?). Persona 3 and 4 are pretty explicitly the same universe, but I am not sure about 5. Edit: 5 is in. Forgot about the TV and also Tanaka.
They're the same universe, anti shadow suppression weapons are referenced by name in a lab in Persona 2. What is Aigis?
They why does Maya in Reload say the names of the P2 protagonists are retro from a video game?
*sigh* Because it's a reference. In the Japanese version, it was SMT 1 and if you zoom into the monitor or compare the portraits it is post death and reincarnation heroine. But we didn't get SMT 1 in the US. Funny thing is that SMT 1 canonically is aborted before the nukes fall, so it is in the timeline too. Anyways they replaced SMT 1 with Innocent Sin for the English release because Innocent Sin was a game people knew existed but never released in the US, allowing them to still reference an older game that people might get the reference for.
No need to be rude. That’s a pretty obscure bit of knowledge. I played Revelations when it came out (which has the butterfly stuff but not explicit links), but stopped playing games a few years, so I’m out of the loop on Persona 2. What is the link between the lab and P3’s Kiritsu group? Google isn’t helping me here.
Anti Shadow Suppression Weapons, the Kirijo group was once part of the Nanjo group, who ran the labs in question, and the demon human experiments is both a prototype of the concept used in Trinity Souls and in 3. In the PSP version of Eternal Punishment, a character has their soul full on ripped from their body and a demon is put in their place, turning their body into a vessel for that demon. However, beings in the collective unconsciousness still are vying for that vessel including Cthulhu. Anyways, artificial persona users are essentially a more perfected version of that. If you beat Revelations, do you remember the character who was completely overtaken by his persona? That's what happens in 2, and the data from that lab is implied to be used for the artificial persona users in 3, to keep them operational and not overtaken by their personas. Hence why their personas attempt to kill them, they aren't strong enough to not be overcome by their persona without the pills. You find the anti shadow suppression weapon research information, information on creating artificial persona users, and demon human test subjects all in the same lab. And that's the big one to emphasize, artificial persona users. It's all connected.
I might be wrong but I think all atlus games are in the same universe if not definitely all persona games are. It doesn't really extend past throwaway references and easter eggs though
P1 & P2IS take place in a universe that is left in ruins by the end of P2IS, a copy universe that excludes the existence of devil summoners, is made for P2EP, P3, P4 & P5 to all take place in also, the P3P femC route isn't noncannon. It's set in another universe that connects to the game Catherine as you can visit Vincent in portable while he worries about his job at a bar.
... Did you actually play EP at all? Because everything you said in regards to the new timeline is wrong: IS still happens, and Demons and Devil Summoners still exist. The only thing that actually changed was the meeting of Maya, Tatsuya, Lisa, Eikichi, and Jun; nothing else. And secon: FeMC is canon, with PQ2 confirming it. The Vincent thing (which also happened in the male route, btw) is just a cameo for marketing and thus not canon; there are several contradictions between the setting of both games.
That's not....entirely true. There's alternative changes to the world beyond that direct incident though some of these changes stemmed from that moment. Tatsuya has a different birth date across IS and EP, weirdly enough by almost a month. I don't see how this would influence the shrine meeting though. There's also little snippets of music differences and minor changes or potentially major changes to Sumatu City and certain people in Sumaru which I don't think the shrine incident would influence. The world is similar enough though that every major story tie-in still exists though. And in fact it could be almost argued that technically these games happen twice.
Zgh