Welcome to the dark, high school anime world of Persona 5. Even though you are only teenagers, it is up to you to save Tokyo from corruption! This game is huge, so you’ll need all the help you can get to find all of the game’s secrets. Lucky for you, Gameranx is here to save the day! Stay tuned for more Persona 5 guides! Here is Gameranx’s Guide to finding a couple cool easter eggs in Persona 5.
Atlus Rising
The game makers at Atlus love to call back on their previous games. For the more perceptive Persona 5 players, these easter eggs are ripe for the chuckle, for those who aren’t, that’s what we’re here for! During your adventure, if you choose to see the film The Cake Knight Rises (in and of itself a callback to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises), players of the weird platformer Catherine will notice a familiar soundtrack. Throughout this scene, the music is ripped straight from the original Catherine soundtrack. While this is a cool throwback, it begs the question, are there other cool references hidden within Persona 5‘s soundtrack? Only time and research (and some love for Atlus’ games) will tell.
Persona Throwback Part 1
Throughout the course of the game, you’ll occasionally run into Tae Takemi, a “death confidant.” As you get to know them, you will uncover more of their story. At one point, she will mention a certain “Uehara-san,” someone who works in another hospital that she Takemi contact’s for patient information. Uehara is the name of a nurse from the previous game, Persona 4, who holds a significant character arc during the main story. While I won’t dive into the details, it’s quite a nostalgic nod to a character with a powerful story from the Persona story.
Persona Throwback Part 2
Traveling to and exploring the Shibuya station will yield yet another nod to Persona 4. If you pay attention to the posters around the station for long enough, you’ll be able to view a promo for two very familiar faces: Risette and Kanamin. Risette was a part of the main party from Persona 4 and she was obsessed with becoming a pop star. Kanamin is Risette’s rival who was briefly featured in Persona 4, but more prominently featured in the rhythm game Persona 4: Dancing All Night. Lastly, if you bring your friends to Harajuku, they will give you a poster so you can stare at Risette in your room any time you want.
Studio Ghibli Love
I saved the best for last, because who doesn’t love Studio Ghibli? When exploring through the Mementos dungeon, the crew discover it’s a lot of land to cover. Luckily, Morgana offers to transform into a bus and then quips that, “Cats turning into buses is an extremely widespread cognition among the general public,” all a direct reference to the Studio Ghibli film My Neighbor Totoro, in which a giant magical cat actually transforms into a bus. While these are certainly cool Easter Eggs, this probably only the tip of the iceberg for curious secrets within Persona 5.
