Persona Series Images

A spin-off from Megami Tensei, the Persona series centers around groups of teenagers who possess the ability to summon facets of their psyche, known as Personas, into being. Megami Ibunroku (女神異聞録), the title for the original Persona game released on the PlayStation, translates to "Record of the Goddess' Strange Tales", denoting a side story or alternate universe. This first game was released in North America in 1996 as Revelations: Persona.

The next title in the Persona series was released as two installments: Persona 2: Innocent Sin, released in 1999, and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, released in 2000. Both games were released on the PlayStation. Only Eternal Punishment was localized and released in North America at first, until September and November 2011, when Innocent Sin was released in North America and Europe.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, first released in 2006 on the PlayStation 2, represented a drastic change in design for the series, as it introduced elements of simulation games. The player controls a high school student, who attends classes during the day; after school, the player's character is free to engage in a number of activities, such as seeing a movie or spending time with a classmate. These actions all have effects on the game's combat, which takes place at night. Persona 3 is also known for the use of Evokers, gun-like objects the game's characters fire at their heads to summon their Persona.

A similar idea had appeared in the 2002 "Dark and Light" anime adaptation of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children where guns called "Devilizers" were used to summon and power up their fighting monsters. They were simply aimed at the air though, not at the user's head.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, released in 2008 on the PlayStation 2 and on PlayStation Vita in 2012, expanded on the combat and simulation elements of Persona 3. The game did not, however, include the Evokers of its predecessor; instead, the game's playable characters shatter Tarot cards to release their Personas.

Source: wiki