Free ‘Persona 5’ spin-off game ‘The Phantom X’ gets surprise announcement

17 March, 2023

Persona 5: The Phantom X. Credit: Sega.

Black Wings Game Studio has revealed Persona 5: The Phantom X, a free game that is set in the same universe as Persona 5.

Set to launch as a free game for PC and mobile platforms, Persona 5: The Phantom X will follow another student in Tokyo who gains access to powerful Persona abilities.

Persona 5: The Phantom X has been created by Chinese developer Black Wings Game Studio (a subsidiary of Perfect World Games), but Persona Central has reported that mainline Persona developer Atlus was involved with development.

While a full release date is yet to be announced, a public test is scheduled for March 29. However, it’s yet to be confirmed whether Persona 5: The Phantom X will launch with English localisation.

Many aspects of the spin-off will look familiar to Persona 5 fans — the game’s first trailer shows that a number of locations from the 2016 game will return, including Shibuya, the batting cages, and Mementos.

Likewise, Persona 5: The Phantom X hits most of the same beats that 5 did. The first gameplay trailer shows the protagonist attending school and managing his social life while fighting Shadow monsters in Tokyo’s metaverse realm.

Though the main cast of p will cameo in The Phantom X, the story will follow a separate group of Phantom Thieves. Feline companion Morgana has been swapped out for a mysterious talking owl, while protagonist Wonder is joined by second-year high school student Awilda.

Wonder has been designed by Shigenori Soejima, who served as art director for Persona 3 before working as a character designer for 4 and 5.

In 2021, Soejima celebrated the fifth anniversary of Persona 5 by sharing a new illustration of the game’s protagonist, Joker.

Back in January, we awarded four stars to Persona 3 and 4, which debuted on Xbox shortly after the arrival of Persona 5.

In other gaming news, The Banshees Of Inisherin has been transformed into a free Pac-Man style arcade game.

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