Summary
Persona 5is a one-of-a-kind experience, seamlessly blendingclassic JRPG combat mechanicswith some of the most memorable characters in gaming, all within an incredibly stylish acid jazz noir-inspired package. First released in the United States on June 02, 2025, it later got an updated re-release in the form ofPersona 5 Royalon Jul 23, 2025. The dungeons inP5, or “palaces,” offer up a unique setting for the Phantom Thieves to infiltrate. As the team embarks on their quest to steal hearts and right societal wrongs, they’re plunged into twisted, albeit iconic, representations of their target’s psyche.
Persona 5approach to dungeons is different from its predecessors. Sure, a randomized dungeon still exists in the form of Mementos, but the major story Palaces that players must explore are completely handcrafted, a change that fans appreciated. Tartarus was a slog to explore at times inPersona 3. WhilePersona 4’s dungeons made an attempt to feel thematic, the randomized layout of the TV World was still apparent for everyone to see. Meanwhile, thePersona 5Palacesare a huge upgrade in every way and do a great job of letting players find unique secrets, fight carefully placed minibosses, and make their way to each target’s Treasure.
Updated on July 8th, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra:The news surrounding Persona 6 has been scarce, especially with most of the updates from Atlus focused on Episode Aigis, a DLC for Persona 3 Reload that players have mixed opinions about. Still, more Persona content is never a bad thing, and Persona 3 Reload lets players enjoy one of the most important games in the series that integrates life sim elements with the usual JRPG goodness. However, the levels of Tartarus haven’t aged well, reminding players of thePalaces in Persona 5and how their handcrafted nature helped them be more memorable, even if some Palaces were better than others in the eyes of many.
Castle of Lust
Suguru Kamoshida
A castle ruled over by Kamoshida, treating women like pets and men like slaves
Museum of Vanity
Ichiryusai Madarame
A museum full of artwork Madarame has stolen from his students to bolster his own reputation
Bank of Gluttony
Junya Kaneshiro
A facility full of money obtained through illicit and immoral dealings by the mafia boss Kaneshiro
Pyramid of Wrath
Futaba Sakura
A pyramid where Futaba has locked in her trauma, fabricated by mysterious men who wanted to stop her mother’s research
Spaceport of Greed
Kunikazu Okumura
A futuristic version of Big Bang Burger where workers are expendable and treated like bugs
Casino of Envy
Sae Niijima
A casino showing how Niijima is gambling with her career and life to the detriment of everyone around her
Cruiser of Pride
Masayoshi Shido
A luxury cruise ship with the National Diet Building on top of it, hosting many despicable individuals who helped Shido climb up his tainted throne
Prison of Sloth
Everyone
The depths of the collective unconscious, housing the debilitating presence of the Holy Grail
Laboratory of Sorrow
Takuto Maruki
A health center where twisted experiments are carried out on people to explore the true nature of their psyche
9Okumura’s Palace
Spaceport Of Greed
In theory,Okumura’s Palaceshould be one of the coolest palaces in the game. The futuristic setting is rad, and the concept of Okumura seeing his fast-food workers as disposable mechanical drones is the kind of perverse villain trait that makes the player’s eventual takedown of him incredibly satisfying. It helps that the Palace itself looks fairly unique and makes for a fresh change of pace from the other environments that players have explored in the game.
However, this palace is kneecapped by both its extreme length and narrative shortcomings. While the stakes are still high, they’re in relation to Haru, a character introduced as Morgana’s sidekick during his rebellious phase. The hasty manner in which Haru’s character is introduced, coupled with the fact that she’s the last permanent member of the Phantom Thieves to join the party, weakens the impact of this Palace even more.
By the time the player finds Okumura’s treasure, their quest has become less about saving their new friend from her forced betrothal. Usually, they’re more concerned with moving on past this part of the game, which is pretty understandable since the plot reaches a really interesting point right after Okumura’s Palace is done and dusted, although that is easier said than done. After all, the boss fight against Okumura is easily one of the most challenging in the entire game and will leave players stumped until they use effective strategies.
8The Final Palace
Prison Of Sloth
The Final Palacein Mementos has a lot of heavy lifting to do. Not only is it propelling the Phantom Thieves totheir final confrontation, but it also has to keep things moving and fun. For the most part, it works just fine. The stark red and black color scheme, a fun puzzle mechanic, and some grim realizations all help make this a very serviceable palace.
P5is at its best, though, when its characters are front and center in the conflict. Sure, the hearts of Tokyo are at risk, but a world-ending threat just isn’t as compelling or creative as the more personal moments that the Phantom Thieves go through in prior palaces.
That being said, facing the Holy Grail and getting brushed off by such a powerful threat still serves as a powerful wake-up call that perfectly sets the stage for the final confrontation - in the base game, at least. After all,Persona 5 Royalfeatures a brand-new epilogue of its own where players need to go through Maruki’s Palace.
7Kaneshiro’s Palace
Bank Of Gluttony
The best thing aboutKaneshiro’s Palaceis the introduction of the newest Phantom Thief, Queen (a.k.a. Makoto, a.k.a Best Girl). The next best thing is the gonzo boss fight, where an insectoid version of Kaneshiro summons a giant mechanical piggy bank to ruin one’s day. This battle can prove challenging, but it never stretches intothe realm of unfairnessand serves as a formidable test of everything the player has learned up to this point.
However, there are several annoying facets of this Palace that take away from the overall experience. The keypad puzzles are fun at first but grow stale after a while. Plus, after coming off of the highs of Madarame’s Palace (both from a narrative and level-design perspective),robbing an actual banksomehow feels just a little dull. It’s a shame, really, since Kaneshiro could’ve actually had a compelling Palace, but this villain feels almost inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, and taking care of him simply isn’t as satisfying as the other villains who had more personal squabbles with the Phantom Thieves.
6Maruki’s Palace
Laboratory Of Sorrow
Persona 5 Royalintroduces a new semester, coupled with a brand-new Palace that remains a mystery for quite some time. VisitingMaruki’s Palacefor the first time is quite a blast, with Kasumi also awakening her Persona during this rather interesting segment.
After the events of the third semester, when the Palace ruler is revealed to be none other than Takuto Maruki, a string of interesting plot points take place. These culminate in the reveal that the Kasumi that players interacted with all this time was actually Sumire Yoshizawa instead. It’s a rather interesting part of the infiltration, although one has to admit that this was also the peak of this Palace as well.
After the Phantom Thieves band together to take down Maruki, the entire Palace becomes somewhat of a slog. Forcing players to go to Mementos to take down a barricade doesn’t help. Furthermore, the random quizzing segment in the middle of the infiltration serves only to annoy players instead of acting as a change of pace. For a Palace that is meant to be the final stop in this amazing journey, it’s a bit grating to find out that this dungeon overstays its welcome due to how unnecessarily long it is.
5Shido’s Palace
Cruiser Of Pride
Shido’s Palacehas some of the absolute coolest and most thematically resonant moments in the entire game. Teaching all the people that Shido’s coerced into his circle a much-needed lesson is super satisfying. However, the impact feels kinda hollow once players realize that these are just cognitive beings in the mind of Shido and nothing else. Despite that, the fight against Akechi towards the end is both thrilling and heartbreaking. Shido himself is a challenge, but it makes the eventual victory a fist-pumping moment of joy.
If onlythose mouse puzzlesweren’t so annoying. The palace itself is already pretty long, but turning into an (admittedly cute) rodent in rooms full of enemies makes backtracking and exploring a slog. It’s an unbearably rote and irritating segment of the Palace. Most players would undoubtedly be annoyed by the end of an otherwise stellar infiltration process. It’s the biggest drawback in a Palace that is truly brilliant otherwise, even though it might feel a bit too long at times, which is probably the fault of those rodent sections anyway.
4Futaba’s Palace
Pyramid Of Wrath
Thebest palaces inPersona 5tell players more about whomever it is that they’re infiltrating.Futaba’s Palacepaints an almost fully colored-in picture of her psyche from top to bottom. What starts as a mission to get Medjed off the Phantom Thieves' back turns into a sweet and poignant story about helping Futabacome to terms with guilt.
Crawling through the pyramid is also a lot of fun, if not a bit repetitive. The Egyptian-inspired personas that players discover help give this palace a strong sense of place, and the puzzles help tell a story as well as break up the gameplay. In terms of the most emotional dungeon to explore, this tomb definitely takes the cake, even though the level design is far from perfect at times.
Regardless, the very fact that players explore a pyramid and enjoy one of the most unique dungeons to feature in a JRPG makes this one ofPersona 5’s best Palaces. The final fight can be pretty tricky and somewhat disturbing, given what people find out about the lies that Futaba was fed to keep her mother’s death a mystery to everyone, including her closest family.
3Madarame’s Palace
Museum Of Vanity
Madarame’s Palaceis the first moment thatPersona 5truly pops off. Where every palace at its core is about stealing a treasure, this is one of the few that truly feels like a heist. The museum feels fully realized, complete with all the things that one might expect to find: an intricate security system, obtuse modern art, and, yes, even a help desk. Even the different sections within the museum feel unique and easily distinguishable. It’s also one of the few palaces in the game where the Phantom Thieves have to work in both the Metaverse and the real world to pull off the infiltration.
On top of all that, Yusuke’s story is told very well here. His complex relationship with both Madarame and art helped make someone who could easily become a joke character stand out as one of the more emotionally grounded members of the group. To cap it all off, the final Escher-esque portion of the palace has some bonkers visuals and a fun navigation mechanic to boot.
2Kamoshida’s Palace
Castle Of Lust
Lots of video games come with the caveat of “it doesn’t get good until about [10, 15, 30, etc.] hours in.“Persona 5eschews this trend at the top by almost immediately throwing players intoKamoshida’s Palace. Even though it functions as an extended tutorial, each trip into the castle manages to be fun while still revealing something about the world, its rules, and its characters.
As Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann become more and more endearing to the player, Kamoshida, on the other hand, rapidly cements himself as one of the biggest jerks in gaming. Taking him down feels satisfying and propels the player into their role as a Phantom Thief for the next 90 hours of gameplay.
While Kamoshida’s Palace can be a bit too lewd at times, it does a great job of ingratiating players to the gameplay loop and helping them understand how the combat system works. It’s so adept at achieving this goal that players will become pros by the time they face off against Kamoshida’s messed-up form in one ofPersona 5’s best Palaces.
1Sae’s Palace
Casino Of Envy
A 777 indeed.Sae’s Palacecan be best described as a “bop.” Everything in this palace turns the best elements ofPersona 5all the way up. Akechi joins the party, the music slaps, and players get to cheat at dice. By this point in the game, the Phantom Thieves have fully formed, the story has caught up to the beginning scene, and all systems are firing.
Cruising through the casinocan be challenging if unprepared, but it feels so satisfying once players get to the final confrontation with Sae, and just for a moment, it seems as though everything has finally gone according to plan.
