Every single RPG in Atlus’Personafranchise isextremely long, often reaching nearly a hundred hours of length. With games these large, it was inevitable that the developers would slip in various secrets and Easter eggs to both other titles they created and those they have no affiliation with.
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Many of these Easter eggs take the form of callbacks in the text, musical references/homages or even entire character designs that look similar to other pieces of media. Many of these secrets will fly over the heads of casual fans, but will pleasantly surprise a fair few. So let’s take a look at some of the most amazing and fun Easter eggs to notice in the Persona franchise.
10Shin Mitsuo Tensei
A Nostalgic-Sounding Tune
While the original PlayStation 2 version ofPersona 4only played the regular boss theme when fighting against Shadow Mitsuo, the PlayStation Vita expanded port of the game (Persona 4: Golden) gave the boss its own unique boss theme. This new song was a catchy chiptune version of the normal boss theme which provides this fight with its own unique identity.
What earns this song placement on this list (albeit the lowest placement) is its name in the soundtrack “Shin Mitsuo Tensei.” This fun song’s name is in reference to theShin Megami Tenseifranchise, which Persona is a spinoff of. This isn’t the only SMT reference in the Void Quest dungeon either, as the dialogue that plays on one floor of the dungeon is taken directly from the original Shin Megami Tensei.
9Speedy Shoes in Persona 5
Yet No Rodent to Wear Them
Persona 5’s power system of having the public consciousness and their beliefs affect Mementos and the Phantom Thieves’ abilities allows for several opportunities where the writers can explain something that a character can do or a piece of equipment’s function based on people believing in a piece of media. The largest example of this is explaining that Morgana can turn into a bus simply because people love My Neighbor Totoro.
While not focused on as much as the above example, Persona 5 also features a reference to Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. In P5, the player can obtain an item known as the Sonic Socks, which will increase their agility by 5 when equipped. While this fun reference on its own wouldn’t be super notable, the connection between Persona 5 and Sonic was further highlighted in thespinoff gamePersona 5: Dancing in Starlight where Morgana was given a full Sonic the Hedgehog costume. It’s always fun to see different Sega-owned franchises reference each other and thus should be mentioned on this list.
8Catherine Cameo in Persona 3 Portable
Beware his Dreams
It’s pretty common for a game company to reference their past game releases via Easter eggs or references, but it’s truly rare for the reverse to happen: to have a character from a game that hasn’t even been released yet appear as a cameo. Shockingly this exact situation has happened in the Persona games where the main character of Atlus’ Catherine, Vincent Brooks, can be found drinking his sorrows away in Persona 3 Portable.
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While Vincent’s character design in this Persona 3 Portable appearance is slightly different from how he appeared in the final game, it’s still recognizably the same character. His conversations with the player about strange dreams he has helps further cement his connection to the other franchise. With a unique cameo like this existing in Persona 3 Portable, one can’t help but keep a closer eyes and wonder about other strange Atlus NPCs.
7Persona 3’s Strange MMO Names
A True Digital Devil Saga
While the Maya Social Linkisn’t one of the bestinPersona 3, it excels in being fun and entertaining via the MMO and the old internet speech they and Maya engage in. Perhaps the most fun part of this Social Link is the name of the MMO and the characters within, though. In the English version of Persona 3, the MMO is titled Innocent Sin Online in reference to Persona 2: Innocent Sin, a game that hadn’t been released in English at the time of Persona 3’s English release.
The references don’t stop at the MMOs name, though, as Maya’s name is also a reference to Persona 2’s protagonist: Maya Amano. Interestingly enough, this Easter egg is completely different in the Japanese version of Persona 3, where the MMO is named Devil Busters Online in reference to the original Megami Tensei. There, Maya is called Y-Ko in reference to the character Yumiko Shirasagi. Sadly, that Easter egg would have been too esoteric for English audiences and thus is appreciated less than others.
6Jojo References in Persona 4
Crazy, Noisy, Bizarre References
The Persona franchise, as well as many other pieces of media, carries with it a lot of tropes and story concepts popularized by the manga Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Persona 4 in particular bears a lot of similarities to Jojo Part 4 as both entries feature a murder mystery in a small town that must be solved by teenagers and of course fought via summoning powers the main cast controls. Interestingly enough, both stories also heavily feature a yellow color palette.
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While most series would have these comparisons end at people noticing online, Persona Q decided to go one step further and truly emphasize these similarities by having the cast of Persona 4 all perform various Jojo poses when introducing themselves to the cast of Persona 3. While everything may be a Jojo reference, few series are willing to wear that on their sleeve like Persona.
5Persona 5’s Gundam Surprise
A Masked Man Above the Collective Masses
Persona 5’s initial antagonist, Masayoshi Shido, has his shadow form’s appearance hidden from the player for nearly the entirety of his Palace. This is done both to keep the player in suspense and reveal one of the coolest references in Persona 5, as when the player eventually confronts Shido, he’s wearing an outfit similar to that of Char Aznable from the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise.
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The connections between Shido and Char go further than a simple outfit, though, as the two also share a voice actor in both the English and Japanese versions of Persona 5. One could go even further to argue that the reason Shido controls a golden statue during the fight with him is in itself a reference to Char’s Hyaku Shiki from Zeta Gundam. These references serve both to remind the player that the dev team behind these games are a bunch of Otakus and to hammer in how Shido is a man who is great at giving false speeches before betraying those around him.
4Funny Movie Titles in Persona 5
Not Hollywood Approved
One of the best ways to simultaneously improve your social stats while also growing closer to your party members for Social Link purposes in Persona 5 is to take them to see a movie in the city. These movies all have titles that parody existing films such as “The Cake Knight Rises” which is a parody of a well-known Batman film. Perhaps the most fun movie reference in hindsight though is the one you can see with Makoto: Dragon: Like a Yakuza.
While seeing a reference to Sega’sLike a Dragonfranchise in Persona 5 at all is fun to see, it becomes an even more notable Easter egg when one remembers that Persona 5 was released in the West long before Like a Dragon’s proper title was used worldwide, being known by most only by its localized title of “Yakuza.” This small extra layer of knowledge required for players to fully get the Easter egg makes this moment notable enough to be ranked on this list.
Maybe next time Persona can take some minigame influence from Like a Dragon.
3Persona 1 References in Q2
A Wink to Longtime Fans
It’s rare for games released after Persona 3 to reference their first two Persona games available on the original PlayStation. At most there will be a blink and you’ll miss it reference in some NPC text. Even the franchise’s major crossover games seem to completely neglect the first two games, not featuring a single character from them. Just because no characters are featured, however, doesn’t mean Persona 1 and 2 weren’t acknowledged by the Q games at all.
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If the player is to die in Persona Q2, they’ll get a game over screen with ominous text like in all Persona games. What truly matters here, though, is the slow piano song that plays during this game over screen. While most new players wouldn’t recognize i, the song is very identifiable as the main theme from the PlayStation version of Persona 1. While the franchise’s roots seem to have been long forgotten, there are still little references to them for any player who is willing to seek them out.
2Familiar Music in Persona 5
Close to SMT Than They Realize
On the subject of musical callbacks, Persona 5 Royal also featured an interesting one when playing Darts with thePhantom Thieves. When participating in this activity, the player will hear a short and funky song. While this isn’t an original song, it also isn’t a callback to any previous Persona games like many other P5 activity music (such as the Junes theme from Persona 4 playing when using a claw machine). Instead, this song has origins in Persona’s mother franchise: Shin Megami Tensei.
The song that plays during this activity, Kichijoji 199X, is a direct remix of a dungeon theme from the very original Shin Megami Tensei called Kichijoji. While Shin Megami Tensei references in the Persona games aren’t as rare as people claim, rarely are they so direct as to include an entire song from the original series. The boldness of this acknowledgment earns this Easter egg a placement on this list if nothing else.
1Twin Peaks Inspired the Velvet Room
He’ll See Them in 25 Years
Perhaps the one piece of media to have influenced more video games than Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is 1990’s Twin Peaks. From horror games like Silent Hill and Alan Wake to Adventure titles like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, this show’s influence knows no bounds. Persona, of course, is no exception to this as a major part of the franchise was directly inspired by Twin Peaks: The Velvet Room.
While it’s most noticeable in the first two Persona games due to the Velvet Room sporting distinctive curtains, this blue room where the protagonist has a strange dream-like meeting with a short man who has a receding hairline has always been an open homage to the Black Lodge from Twin Peaks, where special agent Dale Cooper experienced similar bizarre dreams. Persona’s Twin Peaks inspiration goes beyond just the Velvet Room as well, as some artwork of Maki Sonomura from Persona 1 was directly inspired by Laura Palmer. With a reference so large it influenced the entire franchise, the Velvet Room had to go on top of this list.
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