It’s hard to overstate just how much the modern role-playing game owes to Japan. There was a time in the late 2000s and early 2010s when Western gaming journalism derided the JRPG for its overt anime and manga influences, but contemporary RPGs are indebted to Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, and other Japanese role-playing franchises that outgrew their initial market to become international juggernauts.
Coming into prominence a little later than other JRPGs, the Persona franchise has nevertheless become another big name over the 30 years since its first game, Revelations: Persona, was released. A loosely connected “alternate timeline” spinoff of the dungeon-crawling Shin Megami Tensei series, the series has six mainline installments and a seventh game in development. As popular as they’ve become in the gaming world, the recent announcement of a television show adaptation guarantees that the franchise is about to become even more well-known among a general audience.
