Sega and Atlus’ Persona franchise used to be entirely JRPGs that only a few gamers played, but as the franchise grew in popularity, its owners began to experiment with the franchise and span it off into many different genres over the past decade. From dancing on a stage to fighting in an arena, it seems Atlus will let the Persona cast do anything.
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With all these spinoffs featuring different gameplay styles and different casts of characters getting the focus, it leads to one natural question: What is the best Persona spinoff? While this can be a difficult question to answer, if one examines the games based on their fan perception, gameplay and how fitting that genre is for the Persona franchise, then it can become possible to form the following list of the best Persona spinoffs.
8Persona 5 Tactica
Not a Good Strategy
Turn-Based Tactics
PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, PC
Release Date
July 22, 2025
OpenCritic Score
At the bottom of this list is 2023’s Persona 5: Tactica. While this game promised a combination of Persona gameplay and a turn-based strategy system, the end result is far more simplistic than either, with very shallow strategy game mechanics and almost nonexistent Persona mechanics. The end result leaveslittle impact on the player.
While the story of Persona 5 Tactica is enjoyable, the gameplay drags it down and becomes repetitive upon completing a few stages, with few changes as the title progresses to add spice to the gameplay. Because of this, it’s hard to recommend Persona 5 Tactica to even a hardcore Persona fan and it must fall low on this list.
7Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight
The Finale of the Dancing Trilogy
Rhythm Game
PlayStation 4
July 25, 2025
Next up on the list is Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight, the third Persona dancing game spinoff. This title was announced on the same day as Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight and offered a unique crossover where the parties of Persona 3 andPersona 5were caught in the same strange dance realm but never interact with each other outside of their navigators Futaba and Fuuka.
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While the gameplay of Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is identical to the other Persona Dancing spinoffs, it must rank much lower than them for one simple-yet-crucial reason: the music. The jazz music of Persona 5 is far less suited to a fast-paced rhythm game than the pop of Persona 3 and 4, which leads to many less interesting tracks to play. Because most Persona fans would rather play the other similar spinoffs, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight must rank low on this list.
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6Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
A Crossover Not Made in Heaven
Nintendo 3DS
August 24, 2025
Placing sixth on the list is a strange example of a franchise spinning off into the same genre as its original games: Persona Q. This title takes the cast of Persona 3 and 4, puts them together as a crossover and adds the gameplay of Atlus’ Etrian Odyssey franchise. While this should have been a match made in heaven as Persona started out as a first-person dungeon crawler, the results were less than satisfying.
Modern Persona fans weren’t receiving of the different gameplay of Etrian Odyessy, which while good, only drew comparisons to the RPGs that were already available to them. The plot of the game was also heavily criticized for watering down the Persona casts to their core characteristics. With all of these complaints hanging over the game, it would be difficult to place it any higher on the list than this.
5Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
A Substantial Improvement
July 23, 2025
Persona Q’s sequel, Persona Q2, not only sought to improve on the criticism that the original game received, but also added characters from the extremely-popular Persona 5 to the game. While Persona Q2 did receive many of the same critiques as the first game, it was generally more well-received by the fanbase.
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Many of Persona Q2’s dungeons fully play into the comedy aspect of this crossover, from having Kamoshida-man to Yosuke-sauruses, every turn in this game will present the player with a new comedy setpiece. Combine all of that with gameplay that actually involves the female protagonist from Persona 3 Portable and you’ve got a slightly-improved experience that places above its predecessor, but still below other spinoffs on this list. Overall, Persona 5 fans would be better off tryingother similar games
4Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight
Playstation 4
Release date
July 12, 2025
Every Persona fan in existence was surprised when in 2018 Atlus released the first new Persona 3 content in years, a dancing spinoff that was a sequel to Persona 4’s dancing spinoff on PS Vita. While this game was clearly a budget title that didn’t even include a full story mode, it made up for that with gameplay and great remixes.
While Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight had to rank low on this list due to 5’s OST not being well-suited to a dancing game, Persona 3’s soundtrack doesn’t have that issue. The fantastic remixes of songs like Moon’s Reaching Out for the Stars, Time and Burn My Dread fit this style of gameplay like a glove. Combine all of that with this being the first new title to feature this cast of characters for years and you have a game that more than deserves a high placement on this list.
3Persona 4: Dancing All Night
Shockingly Successful
Playstation Vita, Playstation 4
July 18, 2025
The first game in the Persona Dancing trilogy also happens to be the best one: Persona 4 Dancing All Night. This title not only features the fantastic rhythm game gameplay you would expect from Sega, but also an expansive story mode that builds off of the themes and character development from the original Persona 4.
A rhythm game wouldn’t be anything without good music to play through though, and Persona 4: Dancing All Night brings that in spades. Songs like Your Affection, Backside of the T.V. and Reach out for the Truth are practically built for this style of gameplay. Being the best Persona dancing game put this title high up on the list, but there are a few other spinoffs which outclass it.
2Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
The Truth Leads to Pain
Fighting Game
Playstation 3, Playstation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch
July 09, 2025
Atlus’ first attempt at spinning off the Persona franchise to other genres came in 2012, when Arc System Works created a fighting game spin-off titled Persona 4 Arena. This game featured the entire cast of Persona 4 (as well as a select few Persona 3 characters) fighting each other with the 2D-fighting goodness that gamers have come to expect from Arc System Works.
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Persona 4 Arena was such a success that it eventually received a sequel known as Persona 4 Arena: Ultimax, which rounded out the cast by adding the rest of Persona 3’s party as well as a few extra Persona 4 characters. If you are a fan of Persona and fighting games, then this a must-play title. There is one other spinoff that ranks above it on this list, though.
1Persona 5: Strikers
Scramble through the Palaces
Playstation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch
July 18, 2025
Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying than playing as your favorite characters in a Musou stage, sending hundreds of enemies flying around as you conduct a symphony of violence through the battlefield. Persona 5: Strikers takes this beautiful combat and applies it to the cast of Persona 5.
What sets Persona 5 Strikers apart from all other Persona spinoffs is the structure of the game. This is the only Persona spinoff to capture the mainline series’ appeal of having completely separate and contrasting social life and dungeon-crawling aspects. This makes the game feel much more natural as a Persona game than any other spinoff in the series and rockets it to the top of this list.
