Gaming

5 best games like Persona 5 you need to play ASAP

Not quite a high school heist, but fun.

by Jess Reyes
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Atlus

Atlus

The Persona series has really taken off, especially with Persona 5 Royal. That game’s enough to give players up to 100 hours of gameplay, but still. At some point, you come to an end. What then?

Atlus

Well, Persona is a spinoff of Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei series. Both are turn-based JRPGs that challenge players to take advantage of type weaknesses. There’s a reason why fans joke that SMT is just “edgy Pokémon.”

Atlus

Here are five games like Persona that fans of the anime-inspired, turn-based RPG genre should enjoy.

5. Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Final Fantasy 7 Remake improvises on the turn-based combat from the original game and stretches the content so that players get even more time with their favorite characters.

Square Enix

Square Enix

It might lack the same social sim features that Persona has, but it more than makes up for it with Cloud and his interactions with the charming characters that surround him.

Square Enix

Final Fantasy 7 Remake isn’t the only Final Fantasy game that impresses players with turn-based combat and characters, either. Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XII, and Final Fantasy XV are just a few of the other recommended FF games.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade Chronicles stars a boy named Shulk who’s caught up in a fantasy world at war. That’s a far cry from high school like in Persona, but it’ll appeal to anyone with a taste for anime tropes and emotionally resonant storytelling.

Monolift Soft

Monolift Soft

Xenoblade uses real-time combat, unlike Persona. Go with the recent Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch. You can also play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 without the context of the first.

Monolift Soft

Heck, if you don’t want to catch up with the first or second, there’s also Xenoblade Chronicles 3 coming out in July.

3. Trails of Cold Steel

Trails of Cold Steel takes it slow with its story. On the bright side, fans love how it digs deep into the worldbuilding and characters.

Xseed Games

Xseed Games

Trails of Cold Steel starts off in an academy where students learn about the conflict surrounding their country and prepare for possible war. In that sense, it has Persona and Fire Emblem: Three Houses vibes along with the turn-based combat.

Xseed Games

Note: You should start with the first game to get the most satisfaction from these titles. Trails of Cold Steel is a linear plotline from the first to the last installment.

2. Shin Megami Tensei 5

Naturally, some would want to try a game from the series that inspired Persona. Many of the same monsters, attacks, and negotiation tactics transfer over from Shin Megami Tensei 5.

Atlus

Beware: It’s thematically different from the more lighthearted Persona series.

Shin Megami Tensei games and some of its other spinoffs like Devil Survivor heavily focus on biblical themes and the conflicts between order and chaos, along with good and evil.

1. Honkai Star Rail

Honkai Star Rail is one of HoYoverse’s upcoming projects. Like the Persona series, it also features flashy combat animations in its turn-based battles.

HoYoverse

HoYoverse

Honkai Star Rail more resembles its sister games, Honkai Impact and Genshin Impact, but its similar gameplay elements like type matchups and turn economy should stand out to Persona fans.

HoYoverse

The downside? It’s not out yet, so you’ll have to keep an eye on it.

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