Unmasking the Depths of Persona 5
Exploring cognitive distortions, Jungian archetypes, and choice architecture in the award-winning JRPG
Persona 5, a Japanese role-playing video game released in 2016 on the PS4, offers players a captivating experience that intertwines game design, Jungian psychology, and choice architecture. From its exploration of Jungian concepts to its aesthetic choices and innovative menu design, Persona 5 offers players a rich and immersive experience that challenges conventional gaming norms.
Players assume the role of a Japanese high school student who goes on adventures to overthrow authority figures that abuse their power. The game introduces a parallel dimension called the Metaverse, which mirrors our own reality.
In this Metaverse, the desires, essences, and hearts of individuals are manifested as tangible entities. If one changes those manifestations in the Metaverse, it changes the person in our own universe.
Alongside with his fellow teammates, aptly called Phantom Thieves, the protagonist steals corrupt desires and insecurities that have manifested as stealable treasures in the Metaverse. Doing so changes hearts of the corrupt in our universe, helping them see their wrongs, and ensures they will no longer hurt others.
Besides amazing art and fun and zany characters, at its core, Persona 5 is a game rooted in psychological principles like, wait for it, personas. It also goes deep into other Jungian concepts as well as cognitive and behavioral psychology, choice architecture, tarot archetypes, yin and yang, and many more things.
Let’s explore some psychology concepts and see how they’re directly tied to the game.
Self, Persona, and Shadow Jungian Archetypes
Swiss psychologist Carl Jung introduced the idea of archetypes, innate parts within us that dictate our behavior and way of thinking. He postulated that they were passed down from our ancestors and are part of a greater collective unconscious.
According to Jung, Self is an archetype that represents the unified unconsciousness and consciousness of an individual. That is, the true nature of the individual via their personality, sense of agency, awareness, and ability to perceive the world as it is. A person who is in tune with their Self archetype feels free to be themselves without judgment and has achieved harmony between their different unconscious and conscious parts of their identity.
Jung often represented the self as a circle, square, or mandala.
Disharmony within the system of Self often manifests as negative behaviors such as extreme judgment of others, short tempers, abusive behavior, and more. In Jung’s mind, finding the balance between all the archetypes and parts of oneself leads to individuation and harmony.
Persona archetypes are the masks we wear to conform to societal expectations, often hiding our Self. Imagine how your personality might change depending on whether you’re interacting at work or with your parents.
The characters have masks in the Metaverse to remove in order to awaken their inner selves and express their true identities, challenging the constraints imposed by Japanese society.
In this same vein, Shadow archetypes are the parts of ourselves we repress when we keep those masks on. Not integrating our shadow into our consciousness may cause us to be overtaken by shame, unhinged desires, or shortcomings.
Jung theorized that when we courageously face our shadows, we can tap into their vital energy and channel it in positive ways.
This is beautifully demonstrated in the game by multiple characters who repress their shadows so deeply, they emerge with a vengeance often causing those characters to fall into vices and abuse those around them.
The first of such characters is a high school gym teacher that is unable to reach his true self and dons the persona of a responsible teacher at school. His shadow, obsessed with success and sex, reveals itself from between the cracks through physical and sexual abuse of his students.
Other characters suffer from depression or have a savior complex, their shadows taking much different and less grandiose forms.
In Jungian psychology, owning a shadow is a humbling process that helps us become more whole, authentic, and integrated. Thus in the game, you work toward dethroning or healing suffering characters’ shadow self to restore their conscience so that they may right wrongs, face judgment, and/or build a better life.
Cognitive Distortions
In the 1980’s, David D. Burns, and many other contributors to the formation of the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy modalities, conceptualized the idea of cognitive distortions: thoughts fueled by negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and desire. According to these theories, these perpetual thought patterns cause us to interpret reality inaccurately.
The way the Metaverse in the game is portrayed is that of the cognitive distortions of characters suffering from these emotions. Even the game itself calls them distortions.
Included in these distortions are the way that people view themselves and others, which are highly reflected in the Metaverse. A person’s hidden desires and corruption, normally hidden in real life, are on full display in the distorted Metaverse universe as fantastical, and sometimes horrific versions, of the real world. For many of the abusive characters, this means seeing others as slaves, servants, or animals and seeing themselves as rulers, celebrities, or dictators.
Characters facing other negative emotions like depression or anxiety may see the world as frightening or barren.
Let’s return to that same gym teacher example. In the Metaverse, his cognitive distortions cause him to see himself as a king, the school gym his castle, and his students/team his slaves.
Game Design and Choice Architecture
Choice Architecture is a type of design that utilizes psychological principles to present choices in the most optimal way to users. The presentation can be designed with good or nefarious purposes in mind, whether to lessen the cognitive load for the user or to coerce the user to make a specific, predetermined choice.
These forms of coercion or encouragement to make a choice are called nudges in this framework.
Categories in Menu Design
One of the aspects in choice architecture is the usage of categories. Categories at a high level don’t just allow users to navigate more easily, but it can also help nudge them in a desired direction.
You might craft your categories not based on simple facts but based on desired user actions. For example, Netflix chose to encourage browsing over search, then categorized not only based on genre but on viewing patterns. “Bingeworthy TV Shows”. “Critically Acclaimed Shows”. “Familiar Favorites”. This style of categorization led to over 80% of Netflix content watched as a result of its recommendation engine and helped Netflix become the top streaming company.
Persona 5 presents an interesting take on menu design and information delivery, addressing the common issue of overwhelming menus in RPGs. The game’s menu systems are meticulously designed to move users along.
Unlike games such as Pokémon and Final Fantasy 15, Persona 5 organizes items into categories, allowing for efficient navigation and reducing choice overload.
The game’s visually engaging menus, coupled with clever use of fonts, colors, and animations, transform the menu experience into an enjoyable part of the gameplay.
Simplify Choices to Preserve the Preciousness of Time
Reducing the number of options reduces cognitive load for users. This can already be done with introducing categories, but when that is not possible, simply reducing the number of options shown can greatly encourage users making a choice and reducing regret.
In 2000, Researchers at Swarthmore College found that shoppers were far less likely to make a purchase given the choice among 24 different gourmet jams than they were when given 6. They also found that the shoppers who chose among 24 were much more likely to regret their purchase. This exact phenomenon also happens in online and app dating.
Persona 5 introduces a calendar system, where players must complete the story within a set timeframe. Each day in the game has only two time slots with a handful of activities to fill them with, limiting the actions players can take.
This mechanism adds a layer of realism and urgency, forcing players to prioritize their activities carefully and strategize their next moves.
The number of choices can be overwhelming, though luckily the game can be forgiving if you don’t play optimally. That said, the game makes it very clear that you’ll only have one go around, which increases the chances of “buyer’s remorse”.
A New Fan is Born
Though I’m normally not a fan of JRPGs, turn-based combat, or anime, as a gamer and psychology junkie, this game quickly climbed up my list of favorite games of all time.
So much so, that I presented the above analysis in costume for the final for my NYU graduate class “Game Design and the Psychology of Choice” taught by Jenny Lim:
From its exploration of Jungian psychology to its thoughtful menu design and calendar system, Persona 5 offers players a captivating experience that forces them to grapple with complex decisions.
By seamlessly integrating these elements, the game immerses players in a deeply human and flawed world in which every choice matters, ultimately creating a satisfying and thought-provoking gameplay experience.
