Persona 4 Spin-offs

Persona 4's cast returned in the fighting games Persona 4 Arena (2012) and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (2014), the 3DS dungeon crawlers Persona Q (2014) and Persona Q2 (2019), the rhythm game Persona 4 Dancing All Night (2015), two anime series (2011 and 2014) and a 2012 stage play. Atlus says those spin-offs shaped Persona 4 Revival's characters.

15:15 Persona 4's spin-offs are two fighting games by Arc System Works, Persona 4 Arena (Aug 7, 2012) and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Sep 30, 2014); two 3DS crossovers, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Nov 25, 2014) and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth (Jun 4, 2019); the rhythm game Persona 4: Dancing All Night (Sep 29, 2015); the anime Persona 4: The Animation (2011) and Persona 4 the Golden Animation (2014); and a 2012 stage play. The North American dates and Metacritic scores are below. The spin-offs matter again for Persona 4 Revival: Kazuhisa Wada said they informed how Revival writes its characters, and Revival's new Location Episode character, Aika Nakamura, comes from the anime. The clip is Atlus's Anime Expo 2026 panel, where the spin-offs, a dance game among them, are given as one reason Persona 4 is loved.

Quick facts

Spin-off	Released	Kind	Metacritic
Persona 4: The Animation	Oct 6, 2011 (Japan)	TV anime, 25 episodes
Persona 4 The Animation: The Factor of Hope	Jun 9, 2012 (Japan)	Compilation film
Visualive Persona 4	Mar 15 to 20, 2012 (Tokyo)	Stage play
Persona 4 Arena	Aug 7, 2012	2D fighting game, PS3 and Xbox 360	86 (PS3), 83 (Xbox 360)
Persona 4 the Golden Animation	Jul 10, 2014 (Japan)	TV anime, 13 episodes
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax	Sep 30, 2014	2D fighting game	84 (PS3), 85 (Xbox 360), 80 (PS4), 77 (PC), 81 (Switch)
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth	Nov 25, 2014	3DS dungeon crawler with the Persona 3 and 4 casts	83
Persona 4: Dancing All Night	Sep 29, 2015	Rhythm game, PS Vita and PS4	76
Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth	Jun 4, 2019	3DS dungeon crawler with the Persona 3, 4 and 5 casts	81

Game dates are North American, as Metacritic lists them; scores as of Nov 3, 2026. Sources: Metacritic pages for Persona 4 Arena, Arena Ultimax, Persona Q, Dancing All Night and Persona Q2; Anime News Network, Sep 27, 2011; Anime News Network encyclopedia; Anime News Network, Dec 23, 2011; Anime News Network encyclopedia.

Persona 4 Arena and Persona 4 Arena Ultimax

Persona 4 Arena is a 2D fighting game made by Arc System Works and published by Atlus, with hand-drawn, high-definition anime-style fighters from both Persona 3 and Persona 4. It came out on Aug 7, 2012 on PS3 and Xbox 360 and scored 86 on PS3 from 47 critics. Its sequel, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, followed on Sep 30, 2014 and scored 84 on PS3.

Ultimax was re-released on Steam and consoles on Mar 16, 2022, published by SEGA, with the original Persona 4 Arena story included, the Persona 3 characters and the Shadow versions of the fighters. On Steam it is sold with Persona 4 Golden as the Midnight Channel Collection. Famitsu lists it among Persona 4's related games under its Japanese name, P4U.

Persona Q and Persona Q2

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, released on 3DS on Nov 25, 2014, takes the characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4 into a new first-person dungeon crawler in the style of Atlus's Etrian Odyssey; it scores 83 from 56 critics. Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth (Jun 4, 2019) adds the Persona 5 cast to the Persona 3 team and the Investigation Team and is told from the Persona 5 protagonist's point of view; it scores 81.

Persona 4: Dancing All Night

Atlus's own story-driven music game of Persona 4 replaces battles with dance battles set to remixes of the game's songs and new tracks. It came out on PS Vita on Sep 29, 2015 and later on PS4, and scores 76 from 51 critics. Critics on Metacritic note that it keeps the Persona 4 cast at the center.

Persona 4: The Animation and The Golden Animation

Persona 4: The Animation, made by AIC ASTA and directed by Seiji Kishi, was announced on Apr 11, 2011 and ran for 25 episodes from its premiere on MBS on Oct 6, 2011. Sentai Filmworks licensed it in North America. Shoji Meguro, the game's composer, scored it; Kazuma Kaneko and Shigenori Soejima returned for the Persona and character designs; and Shihoko Hirata, who sang the game's theme, performed its opening, "sky's the limit." The series is where the protagonist is named Yu Narukami (Protagonist). A 90-minute compilation film with new cuts, The Factor of Hope, followed on Jun 9, 2012.

Persona 4 the Golden Animation, whose Japanese title names it after Persona 4 Golden, ran for 13 episodes from Jul 10, 2014, made by A-1 Pictures with Tomohisa Taguchi directing and Kishi as chief director. Golden's Marie, voiced by Kana Hanazawa, is in it; Hanazawa voices Marie again in Revival's Japanese cast (Persona 4 Revival Voice Cast). Aniplex USA released English-subtitled Blu-rays in 2015.

The stage play

Visualive Persona 4 ran from Mar 15 to 20, 2012 at the "Sunshine Theatre" in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, produced by Marvelous AQL. Famitsu counts stage productions among Persona 4's related media.

How the spin-offs shaped Persona 4 Revival

5:17 Wada told Eurogamer that the spin-offs informed Revival's characters, and that the team especially wanted to go more in depth with Yosuke and Kanji (as GamesRadar+ relayed it on Sep 9, 2026). The clearest link is Aika Nakamura, daughter of the owners of the Aiya restaurant: she first appeared in Persona 4: The Animation, is only mentioned in Golden, and becomes Revival's Location Episode guide. The English broadcast first called her a Social Link; Atlus West corrected that on Sep 25, 2026. Atlus has not said whether any other spin-off content appears in Revival. More on What's New in Persona 4 Revival. The clip is Atlus's Sep 19, 2026 broadcast, the one that called Aika a Social Link.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Persona 4 spin-offs? Persona 4's spin-offs are Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth and Persona 4: Dancing All Night, plus Persona 4: The Animation, Persona 4 the Golden Animation and the stage play Visualive Persona 4.

Is Persona Q a Persona 4 game? Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS, Nov 25, 2014) puts the Persona 3 and Persona 4 casts into a new dungeon-crawling adventure, so it is a spin-off of both; Persona Q2 adds the Persona 5 cast.

Where can I play Persona 4 Arena Ultimax? Persona 4 Arena Ultimax was re-released on Mar 16, 2022 and is on Steam, alone or with Persona 4 Golden in the Midnight Channel Collection; the re-release includes the first Persona 4 Arena story.

What is Persona 4 Dancing All Night? Persona 4: Dancing All Night is Atlus's story-driven rhythm game with the Persona 4 cast, released on PS Vita on Sep 29, 2015 and later on PS4, with a Metacritic score of 76.

How many episodes is Persona 4 The Animation? Persona 4: The Animation has 25 episodes, first aired from Oct 6, 2011; Persona 4 the Golden Animation has 13, from Jul 10, 2014.

Is Aika from Persona 4 Revival in the anime? Yes. Aika Nakamura first appeared in Persona 4: The Animation and is only mentioned in Persona 4 Golden; in Persona 4 Revival she leads the new Location Episodes.