Persona 5

Developer/publisher Atlus Format PS3, PS4 Release 2016

The city is a usually a cultural symbol of liberal values, a place where anything goes. In Persona 5, it’s a prison. When your character arrives in Tokyo at the start of the game, the first thing Persona 5 does is lock the city down, subjecting you to its systems of control and surveillance. There’s no escape, no matter where you go. You’re a prisoner of fate, of social hierarchy, even of your own mind. Except with Persona there’s always another hidden dimension. It doesn’t want to crush your spirit so much as fire it up until it explodes.

Much of the formula is well suited to representing confinement. For one, the quantity of dialogue and exposition means that for the first few hours especially you’ll be held captive by the plot. After a tantalising peek at your dynamic alter-ego to come, the main character is thrown into a cell and forced to recall his story from its low-key start. As