Persona 5: The Phantom X

Persona 5: The Phantom X is an upcoming role-playing game developed and published by Perfect World Games under license from Sega. The game is a spin-off of the Persona series by Atlus, itself a part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. It is set to be released in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea. An open beta test for Android, iOS, and Windows began in April 2024.

Persona 5: The Phantom X takes place in modern-day Tokyo, the same setting as Persona 5 (2016), and follows a group of characters that wield the power of Persona. It combines elements of social simulation, as the protagonist uses his free time to raise stats and forge bonds with characters, and dungeon crawling in the alternate world known as the Metaverse. The cognitive versions of the people met in the city, including the Phantom Thieves of Hearts from the original game, can be summoned for use in the Metaverse through a gacha system.

Some Persona 5 staff members were involved in the development, including series producer Kazuhisa Wada as project supervisor, artist Shigenori Soejima designing the protagonist Wonder and his Persona, and Ryota Kozuka composing the main theme performed by Lyn.

Gameplay
To accommodate the format of a free-to-play game created primarily for mobile devices, Persona 5: The Phantom X adapts the Persona mechanics with various changes. Like the main titles, it combines elements of social simulation and dungeon crawling. However, in place of the Calendar system, both activities now require energy that replenishes over time or is restored using currency, similar to other mobile games.

As the male silent protagonist (who is named by the player but also given the codename Wonder) attending the school in modern-day Tokyo, players experience the story events, answer questions in class, and freely explore the city after school or during days off in order to engage in various activities. Some help Wonder earn experience points or money, while others improve his social stats, such as Knowledge or Courage, which affect the gameplay in other ways. Additionally, players can consult the "City Schedule" feature to see the list of suggested activities and available rewards.

The game also features multiple characters that Wonder can interact with in Tokyo using the "Confidant" system. Compared to the main series, it was heavily reworked: the number of ranks has increased, but not every rank results in unique dialogue conversations. The cognitive versions of Confidants also appear as special units that can be summoned using the gacha system.

Like Persona 5, the dungeon crawling portion takes place in the Metaverse, a realm created from subconscious desires that consists of Mementos and Palaces. Mementos is the procedurally generated location consisting of multiple floors that is primarily used for grinding and completing daily quests, while the Palaces are the story-related levels ruled by various bosses.

The battle gameplay remains faithful to the Persona series, using the turn-based system with the "1 more" mechanic when striking enemies' weaknesses. However, unlike the main series, activating "1 more" is always followed by specific skills instead of giving the player complete control over their additional action, and not all enemies can be "downed" in one turn, as some were given a meter that dictates the necessary number of attacks. When all enemies are down, the player can perform a powerful "All-Out Attack".

Development
Perfect World Games first teased the project with a trailer in April 2021. Titled Code Name: X, it was claimed to be the first mobile entry in a “famous Japanese console game series” that has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The footage was noted to feature the aesthetic and music reminiscent of Persona 5, but the ties to the Persona series were not officially confirmed. The connection was later discovered through image filenames on the website and the binary code at the end of the trailer, which was translated to Persona 5X.

Persona 5: The Phantom X was developed by Black Wings Game Studio, a subsidiary of Perfect World, under the supervision of the series developer P-Studio (Atlus) and their parent company Sega. The Persona staff provided input on the game's story and setting, and directly presented ideas regarding the characterization of the Phantom Thieves, which were then turned into original characters by Black Wings staff.

The general producer of the Persona series Kazuhisa Wada worked as the supervisor of the project. The business producer Yousuke Uda served as the game's producer from the Atlus side, and scenario planner Yusuke Nitta, who previously worked on Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers and Persona 5 Tactica, is credited as the development director and lead scenario planner.

Music
The opening theme, Ambitions and Visions, was composed by Ryota Kozuka of Atlus Sound Team, with lyrics by Jasmine Webb. According to sound director Qing Yao, it helped to define the musical style of the game, "inheriting the punk and rock" of the original game and "expanding into a fast tempo J-pop direction." The rest of the music was created in-house by BlackWings Audio Station staff, with song lyrics by AkimR. After completing the basic composition and arrangement, the music was sent to supervisors at Atlus for checks and edits. When the result satisfied both parties, Atlus scheduled recordings with Persona 5 vocalist Lyn.

The first volume of the original soundtrack, containing 21 songs, was released on April 12, 2024.

Release
The game was officially revealed for Android and iOS on March 16, 2023 under its Japanese title, Persona 5: The Phantom X. Perfect World announced that they will distribute and operate the game in China, but plans for release in other regions were not mentioned.

The first small-scaled closed beta test, titled 'Infiltration Test', was held shortly after the announcement from March 29 to March 31, 2023. While Perfect World did not announce the PC version at the time, the beta was available for Windows, in addition to Android. The second, 'Awakening Test', ran from August 18 to August 31, 2023. The final closed beta test, 'Heart Stealing Test', was held from January 16 to January 30, 2024.

An open beta test began on April 12, 2024, in mainland China, and official launch on April 18, 2024, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea.