Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona is the first installment in the Persona series and is succeeded by Persona 2: Innocent Sin. Naoya Todo is the main protagonist and Takahisa Kandori is the main antagonist. SEBEC is the villainous faction in this game.

As the first Persona game, it introduces the concepts of Personas and the characters of Philemon and Nyarlathotep. It was a spin-off originally of Shin Megami Tensei: If... as it took inspiration from its Demon contacting and school setting.

Originally titled Megami Ibunroku Persona in Japan and Revelations: Persona in the West, Persona first released on the PlayStation in 1996.

Starting in 1997 a manga adaptation of Megami Ibunroku Persona was released written by Shinshū Ueda. There was no official English publication of this manga.

An enhanced port for the PSP was released in 2009 for the PlayStation Portable titled Shin Megami Tensei: Persona. It featured new music tracks in the style of Personas 3 and 4 to appeal to newer players.

Official Description
''Set in 1996, Megami Ibunroku Persona centers around the protagonist and his classmates at St. Hermelin High School in Mikage-cho (Lunarvale in Revelations: Persona). Hidehiko Uesugi talks all of his friends into playing a game called "Persona", which is played much like the ritual game "Bloody Mary". While playing, the students lose consciousness and meet Philemon, who gives them the ability to summon reflections of their personalities, which are known as Personas.''

Summary
The protagonist and several of his friends go to visit Maki Sonomura, who is ill and bed-ridden. During their visit, they discover that the town is changing and demons are roaming the streets. The party is told by Maki's mother, an engineer working for SEBEC, that the culprit behind the incident is Takahisa Kandori, president of the company.

After taking Maki's mother to the school (the only place in town safe from demons), the protagonist's actions decide the course of the story. If the protagonist opts for going after Kandori, it'll start the SEBEC Chapter which is the main storyline of the game. Alternatively, the protagonist may opt for investigating a series of incidents that occurred in the school eight years ago and start the Snow Queen Quest, an alternate storyline unrelated to the SEBEC incident.

SEBEC Route
In the SEBEC route, should the protagonist decide to confront SEBEC, he is first joined by an apparently-recovered Maki, then asked by Nanjo to help save Masao, who is captured by demons. The protagonist, Maki and Nanjo rescue Masao, but on the way Maki displays an odd lack of certain memories including being hospitalized.

After rescuing Masao and infiltrating SEBEC, the group confront Kandori. After cornering him inside the DEVA System, a girl in black called Aki appears and knocks the party unconscious. When they awake, they find themselves in a duplicate, idealized version of their world.

The group eventually find and corner Kandori, whose ultimate goal was to become a deity and find meaning in life. After an initial fight, Kandori is possessed by his Persona Nyarlathotep, then finally defeated. Before dying, Kandori reveals that the Maki who has been traveling with the party is the "Ideal Maki", a version of herself from the true Maki's heart. Aki and a girl in white called Mai are also pieces of Maki, and the idealized Mikage-cho was created by Maki, and brought into reality when she unexpectedly linked with the DEVA System.

The group must help Maki avoid Kandori's path towards isolation and his current actions. The group manage to convince Ideal Maki to overlook her original self's unconscious actions and join them in fixing the problem. After rescuing the true Maki's self from the Sea of Souls, where all human life begins, the group must then confront Pandora, an aspect of Maki that wants to use the DEVA System to destroy everything. When Pandora is defeated, all the pieces of Maki merge back into one, reversing the effects on the town and restoring her to full health. Philemon meets with the group and congratulates them on their success.

Snow Queen Quest
The Snow Queen Quest, which takes place in the real town of Mikage-cho, is unlocked by investigating an urban legend within the school surrounding a theatrical mask used in performances of "The Snow Queen": nearly everyone who wears the mask to play the title role has died. After finding the mask, the protagonist encounters Saeko Takami, who puts on the mask and is possessed by a spirit within it. Freezing the entire town, the possessed Saeko generates three towers, with the spirits of those previously killed by the mask as their guardians, while setting up her Ice Castle within the high school.

Along with Yukino, Ayase, Eriko, and Hidehiko, the protagonist heads out to save Saeko. Philemon contacts them and tells them that the only way to save Saeko is the Demon Mirror, which can remove the source of the mask's curse. The spirit possessing Saeko turns out to be former classmate Tomomi Fujimori, who was horribly disfigured by the mask when she wore it in place of Saeko. Using the mirror, the group are able to free Saeko and bring Tomomi peace. It is then revealed that Tomomi herself was controlled by the Night Queen Asura, a powerful entity who wants to cloak the world in darkness. Upon defeating the Night Queen, the town is freed from her power.

Megami Ibunroku Persona Digital Collection
The MIP Digital Collection is a CD-ROM produced by Atlus for the PC. It is a minigame collection spin-off set after the events of Megami Ibunroku Persona. After the events of Megami Ibunroku Persona, Chisato and her now boyfriend Yosuke attend the St. Hermelin High School festival. The festival was initially canceled due to the events of Megami Ibunroku Persona. Many of the students have made events for others to participate in, with the goal to collect as many tickets as possible. Yuko is the host of the festival.

On the disc there are two extra options. The first option will install the game onto your computer for faster loading times. The second option is some accessories for Windows 95. The accessories are as follows: 5 screensavers available in 640 X 480 and 1024 X 768, a Persona calendar that would show a different persona for every day of the month, and a music player for every song, sound effect, voice line, and demon sound in the game.

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Ikū no Tō Hen
RPG developed by Atlus and Bbmf for mobile phones, specifically the high-end feature phones of the time. Its title when first announced was Megami Ibunroku Persona Gaiden: Ikū no Tō.

After the battle in the SEBEC building, the DEVA System transports the protagonist's party into a parallel world. The protagonist, Maki Sonomura, and Mark awaken to discover they've been separated from the others. However, Igor and the Velvet Room are connected to this space, as well. According to Igor, in order to escape this alternate dimension, they will need to gather an orb and their companions and travel to the top of the tower to operate the space transition device. They encounter a girl who is also trying to escape using the device at the top of the tower. They travel with her as they climb up the tower and reunite with their friends. At the top, the girl reveals herself to be a demon that wants to escape to the human world.

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Messiah Project
A comic anthology that was release on March and September 1998, and was published by Rapport.

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Shadow Maze
A novel based on Megami Ibunroku Persona written by Naoko Korekata.

Maki Sonomura did not accept the existence of the darkness that lurks within her mind, thus an alternate self was born to rule over that darkness. Not believing that she was truly herself, "Ideal" Maki began to notice the existence of another Maki after the DEVA System incident. Making her question who is the true self and what is the truth. By drowning in the sea of men's most ugly emotions, "Ideal" Maki is able to find her true self. She eventually unites the glass shards that are her various personalities.

Megami Ibunroku Persona: Kandori no Yabo
A novel written by Jun Nanbara focusing on Takahisa Kandori.

Takahisa Kandori has been appointed head of the Saeki Group's research institute, SEBEC Mikage. The development of the D.V.A. (DEVA) system, a space transfer device that goes beyond the laws of science, is coming to a close. However, during the final stage of the experiment, he comes into contact with another dimension and meets a creature that is not of this world. Kandori, who has never been interested in the power struggle in the Saeki Group, has been focusing on the completion of the D.V.A. system, but what is his true goal? He makes a contract with a creature from another dimension to become the champion of humanity. And then...

Trivia

 * The Persona featured on the jewel case and in the Revelations: Persona-exclusive loading screen is Vishnu, renamed "Ashura" in the English version.
 * The hero's alternate self is seen playing "Groove On Fight" in the Well of Mind and Souls, also known as the Alaya Cavern. This reference was carried down to the PSP remake as well.
 * Revelations: Persona was released on the PlayStation Classic Mini Console on December 3, 2018 which is bundled with 20 other PlayStation One games and it now has the save state feature ability.
 * In the PlayStation Classic version of Revelations: Persona, it is now possible to cheat at the video poker game by using the save state feature and get up to 1,000,000 coins at the casino, which is helpful if the player wants to buy expensive weapons and sell them at the store for more money.
 * Revelations: Persona was one of the rarest PlayStation games due to the limited copy run and became available again on the PlayStation Classic in 2018.
 * A debug build for the game was dumped by Reddit user PriceyT-Shirt on January 2nd, 2021. [1] The build date is August 2nd, 1996, which is one day before the final Japanese build. The EXE is dated a day before the final NTSC-J retail release.

Continuity

 * The game features the main character from SMT: If... Tamaki Uchida. Tamaki seems to have transferred to St. Hermelin after the surreal events back in her old school, as she will dodge any questions related to it. While she is unable to fight back due to no longer having a COMP, Tamaki still retains a vast knowledge of demon behavior. She is a member of the school's fencing club and frequently quarrels with fellow club member Tadashi Satomi. If the protagonist visits Tamaki after Mikage-cho has been invaded by demons and before the point where the game's story splits into the SEBEC Route and the Snow Queen Quest, Tamaki will give the protagonist the rapier that she used during the Karukozaka incident in if... and wish him good luck.
 * This game introduces several characters like Nanjo, Elly, Reiji, and Maki who later appear in Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. These characters would later become party members and essential characters in those games. The rest of the cast members, save for Mark and Yuka, also appear in those games, but not as prominently.
 * This game also introduces Kandori, who gets brought back from the dead in Eternal Punishment.
 * Along with him, his Persona, Nyarlathotep, also becomes a major player in the two future installments.
 * As the first game in the series it introduces major players and concepts that will be expanded upon and reworked in later games such as the Velvet Room and Igor, Philemon, and Ultimate Personas.
 * At the end of the Snow Queen Quest, Queen Asura promises that as long as there are people who want to bring darkness to the world, she will someday return. This hints at her return in Persona 3 as the ultimate villain.
 * Other characters and Personas from the Snow Queen Quest also make reappearances in Persona 3 including Hypnos, Thanatos, and Nemesis.
 * Tartarus Tower also appears in both games, but they are mostly unrelated.