High school student Makoto Yuki Akira Ishida arrives in a city gripped by a strange phenomenon that shuts down all technology and traps people in coffins. He makes his way to the Iwatodai Dormitory, where a mysterious boy greets him with a contract, and there he meets his dorm mates, Yukari Takeba Megumi Toyoguchi and Mitsuru Kirijo Rie Tanaka. The next day, Makoto enrolls at Gekkoukan High School as a sophomore alongside Yukari and fellow classmate Junpei Iori Kohsuke Toriumi. The school’s Chairman of the board, Shuji Ikutsuki Hideyuki Hori, asks Yukari to investigate Makoto because of his uncanny characteristics and the ten-year-old mystery surrounding the death of his parents in the city.
Makoto’s world expands when he enters the Velvet Room, where he becomes acquainted with Igor Isamu Tanonaka and Elizabeth Miyuki Sawashiro. As the midnight phenomenon begins again, Akihiko Sanada Hikaru M ida rushes back to the dorm just as the threat arrives: a swarm of monstrous creatures. Yukari pulls Makoto to the rooftop, but they are cornered by a towering foe. In that moment, Makoto awakens the power of two Personas to push back the attack and survive the onslaught.
unconscious for more than a week, Makoto wakes in a hospital to find Yukari by his side. She explains how their pasts are linked by the same loss of parents during that long-ago accident. In response, Ikutsuki, Akihiko, and Mitsuru recruit Makoto into the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad—SEES—to battle the dangerous Shadow creatures that prey on people during the Dark Hour. With Junpei joining soon after, the group resolves to explore Tartarus, a Shadow-infested labyrinth hidden within their school, hoping to uncover the Dark Hour’s secrets and its connection to their fates. Makoto also befriends Fuuka Yamagishi Mamiko Noto and learns about her fraught relationship with class bully Natsuki Moriyama Atsumi Tanezaki.
On another full moon, Mitsuru detects an abnormally large Shadow presence aboard a speeding train and sends Makoto, Yukari, and Junpei to investigate. The trio is ambushed as the train accelerates, and Junpei charges forward to confront danger while Makoto defeats the Priestess with Junpei, bringing the runaway train to a halt.
Seeking answers, Yukari, Junpei, and Makoto head to Port Island Station and learn from Shinjiro Aragaki Kazuya Nakai that Fuuka had been bullied by the girls before she vanished that night. Natsuki Moriyama confesses to Mitsuru that she and her friends bullied Fuuka, and Fuuka’s disappearance touches off a wave of Apathy Syndrome, caused by Shadow predation. The SEES members deduce that Fuuka may be trapped inside Tartarus and plan a rescue. Makoto’s leadership is reinforced as Mitsuru entrusts him with protecting Natsuki at the dorm, and Natsuki’s perspective helps him understand Fuuka’s true friendship with her.
The team breaches Tartarus and finds Fuuka inside as the Dark Hour takes hold. Mitsuru and Yukari face off against the Emperor and Empress Arcanas at the tower’s entrance, while Junpei, Akihiko, and Fuuka rush to their aid. The Arcanas overwhelm the team’s Personas until Fuuka awakens a new Persona, Lucia, to defend an entranced Natsuki. Using Lucia to sense the Arcanas’ weaknesses, Fuuka coordinates a coordinated assault that finally defeats the Shadows. In the aftermath, Fuuka moves into the Iwatodai dorm and rebuilds her connection with Natsuki, and life returns to a steady, if fragile, normalcy.
In a post-credits moment, the mysterious boy reappears to Makoto and introduces himself as Pharos, hinting at deeper forces at work, while elsewhere a girl awakens to an uncertain future.
