| Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art, showing the casts of Persona 3 (right) and Persona 4 (left), and new characters Zen and Rei (center) | |
| Developer(s) | P-Studio |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Daisuke Kanada |
| Producer(s) | Katsura Hashino |
| Designer(s) | Naoya Maeda |
| Programmer(s) | Nobuyoshi Miwa |
| Artist(s) | Shigenori Soejima |
| Writer(s) | Azusa Kido |
| Composer(s) |
|
| Series | Persona |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing, dungeon crawler |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth[a] is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus for the Nintendo 3DS. It is part of the Persona series, itself part of the larger Megami Tensei franchise. It was published across all territories in 2014: released in June in Japan, November in North America and Europe, and December in Australia. Atlus published the game in Japan and North America, while NIS America published it in the PAL region.
The story of Persona Q is a crossover between Persona 3 and Persona 4, whose characters are drawn from their respective periods by an unknown force and sent into a replica of Persona 4's Yasogami High School in another world. Meeting with Zen and Rei, two people whose memories were taken, the groups must unite and explore four labyrinths in the school to recover treasures hidden within. These treasures can restore Zen and Rei's memories which might help them find a way to escape. The gameplay fuses elements of the Persona and Etrian Odyssey series, and focuses on first-person dungeon crawling through labyrinths and combat using the characters' "Persona" abilities against hostiles known as Shadows.
Development on the game began after Atlus's success with collaborating with an external developer on the 2012 fighting game Persona 4 Arena. It was based on the wish to create a collaborative spin-off with the Etrian Odyssey development team and fan demands for a Persona game on the 3DS. The Persona Q development team was made up of staff from both Etrian Odyssey IV and the main Persona series. Series character designer Shigenori Soejima created the cast's new deformed "chibi" appearances, while the music was composed by Atsushi Kitajoh and Toshiki Konishi with supervision by series composer Shoji Meguro. First announced in 2013 alongside the console port of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona 4: Dancing All Night and Persona 5, it was the first Persona game to be developed for a Nintendo platform. It released to strong sales and positive reviews from critics, praising the game's comedic writing, presentation, music, and blend between Persona and Etrian Odyssey's gameplay styles. A sequel, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, was released for the 3DS in Japan in November 2018 and worldwide in June 2019.
- ^ Shrier, Jason (November 27, 2014). "Persona Q almost defeated me, but I won't let it win". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 30, 2014.
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