Persona vs. Shin Megami Tensei: Differences and Similarities

I thought it could be useful to make a comparison for those who cannon decide what title to play. In this post I list the common features and the differences between the two franchises. There are also some hints to help you choose.

As usual, I don’t want to ramble, I mostly just list the prominent features and explain them if needed. I haven’t played all the games of the mentioned series, but I finished the first instances of both Shin Megami Tensei and Persona franchises, as well as the newer titles, so I can see the bigger picture.

Similarities

• Battle system and its following attributes:
• Demons / personas
• Attention to enemies’ particular strengths and weaknesses
• Skills and their types
• Some status effects and ailments
• Some restoring items (life stones, soma etc.)

SMT and Persona have the same turn-based battle system that made me fall in love with the franchise. The collection of demons, or personas, is continuously curated and designed with great attention to details. Kazuma Kaneko has been in charge of demon art direction since MT2, if you are curious about the art.

Moreover, demons are more permanent in the series than any of the protagonists, since protagonists and overall plot are specific to each title. This can be weird for people who are used to Western-type franchises where protagonists are always a part of the canon. But MegaTen can afford to have a completely different story each time, without legacy restrictions, while catering to the taste of the battle drive’s fans.

I personally think there is nearly not enough fan art about personas/demons. They have their own backgrounds and personalities. Many people get attached to plot-specific characters, while I remember the first time I encountered Pixie, and so on. I’m the type of person who reads each persona’s description in the compendium lol. I’m also a big fan of fusion.

If you only played Persona, you might find some item and skill names very strange, since they not always have actual roots in Japanese lore, not to say Western culture. But they actually have been in MegaTen games at least since 90s. Once you start figuring it out, you are ready

Shin Megami Tensei

• 1st person point of view
• Law, Chaos or Neutral alignment of the player with respective endings
• Great cataclysm trope
• Eternal problems of political philosophy and ethics
• Various settings from high fantasy to sci-fi
• Adult target audience

If I had to pick one biggest difference, it would be players’ alignment. Neutral with its fragile balance of power is usually considered canon, but players who prefer other styles can get their own endings too. Chaos alignment is for people who believe in the survival of the fittest and other ideas akin to social Darwinism (or just people who want complete freedom). Law is associated with Judeo-Christian monotheism and one overarching ideology for all, and it’s the hardest of all the alignments to like for me personally. I’m a very confident Neutral. But whatever you choose, you have your own storyline, enemies and allies. There is no single view on how to save the world.

SMT’s distinctive feature is the feeling of survival in an unpredictable hostile environment. Great cataclysm is a recurring theme. Usually it’s rooted in people’s vices, be it an ecological catastrophe in SMT:SJ or a nuclear war in SMT1. This creates a blank slate for humanity and the protagonist to paint from scratch. In such post-apocalyptic setting demon encounters become a part of daily life.

The age of target audience is debatable, since everyone has their own tastes. But as a person who took a bunch of film analysis courses in university, I use a simple rule to find it out – what age is the protagonist that we have to identify with? SMT protagonists are more “ageless” because they wouldn’t have to attend school even if it’s age appropriate – well, there are no functioning schools in post-apocalyptic Tokyo. But sometimes it’s more evident. For instance, in Strange Journey you play as an adult soldier. Adult preferences are also reflected in some game mechanics and overall look and feel of the games.

Persona

• 3rd person point of view
• Focus on personal problems
• Importance of social connections
• Psychoanalytical approach
• Visual novel mechanics
• Setting is based on the real world

In Persona the distortions of reality are caused by personal struggles rather that issues in politics or ecology. Especially towards the later titles, demons are not a separate supernatural phenomenon of the real world, but a manifestation of subconsciousness. The personal nature of the events makes it possible to reverse them.

Persona games put bigger stress on social interactions. This takes the form of visual novel mode where you have to choose the best words in a given situation. SMT has dialogs too, just as any RPG, but their function is mostly to affect your alignment where, again, there is no one right choice. Another example of social features is confidant/social link mechanic. Dialog mode is often used as tutorials or other kind of guidance, since other characters can tell you what to do next.

How to choose?

Pick Shin Megami Tensei if you…

• Are not a fan of high school stories
• Like the feeling of survival in a hostile environment
• Are a long-time RPG player who enjoys different alignments
• Tend to replay a game with different endings

Pick Persona if you…

• Like visual novels
• Don’t want a stressful post-apocalyptic setting
• Would like to get acquainted with MegaTen battle system in an easier way

I like both, but now I feel like SMT is more interesting to me. I can’t look down on Persona 5 since it brought us the stunning 3d battle mode. I’m looking forward to playing SMT5 which will have the same 3d demons!

---

Press F to Pay Respects