Looking back at Katsura Hashino’s past titles, it’s easy to see the evolution in gameplay. Persona 5's mechanics feel like a nearly perfected take on the formulas introduced in P3, P4, and even Catherine, combining them all into Hashino's big finale for his role in the series. Persona 3 carried over many of the vibes from P2, but Hashino took the series in a new direction with the introduction of the calendar system and Social Links. The battle system in particular received an overhaul with the 1 More system, taking Hashino’s Turn Press mechanic from Nocturne and somewhat reworking it. Persona 4 refined the systems introduced in P3, adding more activities to do during leisure time and tweaking Social Links. Moon phases were replaced with the weather system, which was not only relevant to the plot, but also put strategy into planning out the days ahead. Diversely themed dungeons were an especially welcomed return compared to Tartarus, each having their own gimmick to keep exploration fresh. But Hashino’s role in Persona 5 intrigues me the most, not only because it’s his last title in the series, but because he himself had a direct role in writing the script. Crafting both the story and gameplay gave him more control of how everything played out, and it worked to his benefit. Social Links evolved into the Confidant system, having a greater effect on gameplay both inside and outside of battle. Tartarus from Persona 3 mechanically returned as Mementos, but coexisted with the idea of multiple themed dungeons with uniquely crafted layouts. The entire concept of using a phone as a gameplay mechanic was clearly adapted from his previous title Catherine, and the online features from Persona 4 Golden were taken in as well. Even demon negotiation was brought back into the series, something Hashino hadn’t done since his Nocturne days. It’s clear that Hashino put all he had into Persona 5, and players who stuck with him and the series in general can see the reworking of old ideas with the combination of new ones. But now that he’s leaving the series for good, I just wonder what kind of changes we might be seeing from the next person in charge.