In the last few years, the cultural gravitas of Persona 5 has been a frequent talking point. Somehow, Persona 5 just keeps providing influence that it's an extraordinarily influential game. The Persona franchise definitely owes a lot to this best-selling mainline entry, which brought in tons of new Persona fans and enabled a very innovative spinoff in the form of Persona 5 Strikers. Beyond the Persona franchise, the Persona 5 cast of characters keeps cropping up in other places, spreading the word about the series and letting fans show their love of the Phantom Thieves. At Gamescom 2021, Persona 5 fans learned that there's yet another game crossing over with Persona 5.
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania keeps announcing guest characters lately. As a Sega product, it has access to a lot of beloved characters, so it's not surprising that Sonic the Hedgehog and Beat from Jet Set Radio are making appearances in Banana Mania. Atlus, the creator of the Persona series, also belongs to the Sega family of studios. Therefore, it's not too surprising to see Morgana from Persona 5 as the latest guest character announced for Banana Mania. Persona 5 and the Phantom Thieves just keep cropping up all over the place, making them seem more and more like a mainstay than a temporary high point in Persona history.
Persona 5's Morgana is Perfect for Super Monkey Ball
Of all the Persona 5 characters that Sega could've invited to join Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania, Morgana was definitely a great choice. The Phantom Thieves' proud, adorable, catlike companion through the Metaverse happens to already be a very small individual, making him easy to put in a ball and roll around. His inherent cuteness also makes him look totally at home next to AiAi and Super Monkey Ball's other charming animal characters. A human Phantom Thief shrunk down to Super Monkey Ball size would've worked too, but Morgana is already just right.
In the broader scope of Super Monkey Ball, Persona, and Sega properties, Morgana is a good choice in general. On the whole, Sega seems determined to advertise its most popular franchises through the guest characters in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. That means Sonic is a shoo-in, as is the Yakuza series' Kazuma Kiryu. However, Persona is more popular than ever because of Persona 5's international success. Morgana's inclusion in Banana Mania shows that Sega is more than happy to acknowledge that Persona 5's Phantom Thieves are now classic characters that Sega and Atlus can use to their benefit for as long as they like.
Persona 5 Seems Like It's Here to Stay
The Persona 5 crossover with Super Monkey Ball does perhaps suggest that Sega and Atlus aren't done working with the Persona 5 IP. It's been quite some time since the most recent title in the Persona 5 family of games released, but Atlus' parent company seems determined to celebrate Persona 5 anyway. It certainly could've opted for a character from another Persona game if the Banana Mania slot was simply meant to celebrate Persona's 25th anniversary in 2021. Since Sega opted to pick Morgana specifically, it seems interested in adding to ongoing excitement for and interest in the Persona 5 cast.
Many Persona fans want to know what's next for the Phantom Thieves, if anything. Atlus promises it'll announce a ton of Persona projects in September 2021, which makes odds high that there's one more adventure for the Phantom Thieves on the way. That seems especially likely considering the fact that Persona 6 seems far away for now. Although the Phantom Thieves have already been the faces of the Persona series for about five years, they've still got more than enough charisma and personality to keep Persona going until Persona 6 is ready. Hopefully, Morgana's Super Monkey Ball appearance suggests that Persona 5 will stick around for a little longer.
Persona 5 is available now for PS3 and PS4.