It imagines a world in which friends are easily attainable and people who’ve wronged you will get what’s coming to them. Persona games are no different, but their fantasy is in reliving high school with a perfect student life. Video games regularly serve as power fantasies.

“Isn’t that just like real life?” a co-worker recently asked me. Gushing about to friends about how excited I get about finding a seat on the train in Persona 5, or picking up a new book, solicits an eyebrow raise at best. I’m a teen fighting hell monsters on the regular, but oh wait, did I remember to water my plant this morning? Time not spent pillaging dungeons is given to quiet pursuits like working part-time jobs or going to the cafe with friends.

It’s a fantasy role-playing game that’s just as interested in the daily life of any given hero. Stealing stuff and recruiting demon-like allies is fun, but I’d trade it all for a night of doing my virtual laundry.Īs a series, Persona has leaned into these quiet, simple pleasures for a decade, and Persona 5 is no exception.

The best parts of Persona 5 are doing nothing at all.