How Long It Takes to Beat Every Mainline Persona Game vs. Every Main Shin Megami Tensei Game

Atlus' two largest franchises are the Shin Megami Tensei series and the Persona series, and each has its own dedicated groups of fans. While the Persona series started as a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei, it has grown and evolved into a separate franchise for the developer in recent years. While there are some clear similarities between the two, like how both Persona and Shin Megami Tensei share many of the same collectible creatures, JRPG fans looking to get into either series will want to know how these series stack up in terms of how long it takes to beat them.

Although Persona has eclipsed its parent series with the popularity of Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensei has also seen a resurgence in popularity with the release of titles like Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne Remastered and Shin Megami Tensei 5. Both series have also gotten a handful of spin-off games fairly recently as well, with games like Persona 5 Tactica and Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore among them. However, for players looking to just finish the main series of games, they'll need to take a look at the time to beat each of the definite versions of each entry.

Comparing the Time to Beat for the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei Series

How Long to Beat All Main Series Persona Games

To beat the entire main series of Persona games, players are looking at upwards of 364 hours of in-game time, which is a massive time investment. There is a clear jump in game length starting with Persona 3, likely due to the addition of the calendar system in this entry that would go on to become a staple mechanic of the series. Having to play out a year's worth of in-game days along with the additional content present in the definitive versions of Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5 greatly extends the time to beat this series when compared to other JRPGs.

How Long to Beat All Main Series Shin Megami Tensei Games

The Shin Megami Tensei series may have more mainline entries than the Persona series, but the total time to beat all mainline Shin Megami Tensei games only barely beats the Persona series, with a total of 367 hours. However, the games in the Shin Megami Tensei series are much more consistent with their time to beat, with most entries clocking in at around 30–40 hours, which is much closer to the length of a standard JRPG. Shin Megami 3: Nocturne and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey are the longest in the series at over 50 hours, but neither of those compares to the longest Persona games.

Players looking to complete the entire mainline Shin Megami Tensei series will have another issue to contend with that makes them more difficult to beat than the Persona games. Several Shin Megami Tensei games, including Shin Megami Tensei 2, Shin Megami Tensei if..., and Shin Megami Tensei: NINE were never released in the West, meaning they are difficult to access for players outside Japan. While there are fan translations available for these titles, there are no official ways to play them outside of their Japanese releases and re-releases.

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Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 94%

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Released

February 2, 2024

ESRB

Mature 17 / Blood, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

Developer(s)

P-Studio

Publisher(s)

Atlus, Sega

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Franchise

Persona

Platform(s)

PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, PC

Genre(s)

JRPG, RPG, Life Simulation, Strategy

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